Zhong Shaojun
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Zhong Shaojun (; born 19 October 1968) is a long-time political aide of
Xi Jinping Xi Jinping ( ; ; ; born 15 June 1953) is a Chinese politician who has served as the general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC), and thus as the paramount leader of China, s ...
, currently the
General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party The general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party () is the head of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), the sole ruling party of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Since 1989, the CCP general secretary has been the paramount leader o ...
(CCP) and
Chairman of the Central Military Commission Chairman of the Central Military Commission may refer to: *Chairman of the Central Military Commission (China) *Chairman of the Central Military Commission of the Workers' Party of Korea See also *Secretary of the Central Military Commission of the ...
(CMC). Zhong served on Xi's staff beginning in
Zhejiang Zhejiang ( or , ; , also romanized as Chekiang) is an eastern, coastal province of the People's Republic of China. Its capital and largest city is Hangzhou, and other notable cities include Ningbo and Wenzhou. Zhejiang is bordered by Jiang ...
province, then followed him to
Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flow ...
, and then
Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...
. Zhong currently serves as the director of Xi Jinping’s Office and director of the
General Office of the Central Military Commission The General Office of the Central Military Commission (), simply known as the CMC General Office () or the Military Office (), is an administrative agency of the Central Military Commission which assists the leaders with the day to day administr ...
. He holds the military rank of
Lieutenant general Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a three-star military rank (NATO code OF-8) used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the ...
in 2019.


Career

Zhong was born in
Kaihua County Kaihua County () is a county under the jurisdiction of Quzhou city in Zhejiang Province of the People's Republic of China. It is located in the westernmost portion of Zhejiang, and is the source of the Qiantang River. The district's total area is ...
, Zhejiang, near the modern city of
Quzhou Quzhou is a prefecture-level city in western Zhejiang province, People's Republic of China. Sitting on the upper course of the Qiantang River, it borders Hangzhou to the north, Jinhua to the east, Lishui to the southeast, and the provinces o ...
. He hold a master's degree from
Zhejiang University Zhejiang University, abbreviated as ZJU or Zheda and formerly romanized as Chekiang University, is a national public research university based in Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China. It is a member of the prestigious C9 League and is selected into the na ...
. He once served as the deputy head of the provincial party's Organization Department in Zhejiang. It is not clear when Zhong began working for Xi, but evidence suggests that Zhong was on Xi's staff at least as early as when Xi was serving as the
Communist Party Secretary A Party Committee Secretary () is the leader of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) organization in a province, city, village, or other administrative unit. In most cases, it is the ''de facto'' highest political office of its area of jurisdictio ...
of
Zhejiang Zhejiang ( or , ; , also romanized as Chekiang) is an eastern, coastal province of the People's Republic of China. Its capital and largest city is Hangzhou, and other notable cities include Ningbo and Wenzhou. Zhejiang is bordered by Jiang ...
province. In Zhejiang, Zhong often drafted Xi's official statements. Upon the sacking of
Chen Liangyu Chen Liangyu (; born October 24, 1946, in Shanghai) is a Chinese politician best known for his tenure as the Communist Party Secretary of Shanghai, the city's top office, and a member of the Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party, from 2002 ...
due to a corruption scandal, the central authorities selected Xi to fill the position vacated by Chen as party chief of Shanghai. The transfer elevated Xi from a relatively unknown provincial administrator to the front runner to succeed Hu Jintao as the next leader of the Communist Party. Zhong then followed Xi to Shanghai and took on the title of deputy chief of the municipal party
General Office A General Office (also known as "administrative office") is an important administrative political organ in the communist party organizations and communist countries (such as China, Laos and Vietnam for instance). Generally speaking, the General Offi ...
, and often accompanied Xi on visits. When Xi was transferring his duties to his successor as Zhejiang party chief
Zhao Hongzhu Zhao Hongzhu (; born July 1947) is a retired Chinese politician and previously a member of the Chinese Communist Party's national leadership. Zhao served as the Deputy Secretary of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI), the Com ...
, Zhong would frequently accompany Xi on trips between Shanghai and
Hangzhou Hangzhou ( or , ; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ), also romanized as Hangchow, is the capital and most populous city of Zhejiang, China. It is located in the northwestern part of the province, sitting at the head of Hangzhou Bay, whi ...
. It was said that on some trips, Zhong was the only person accompanying Xi. In the fall of 2007, Xi was transferred to Beijing to become a member of the
Politburo Standing Committee The Politburo Standing Committee (PSC), officially the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, is a committee consisting of the top leadership of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Histori ...
and the secretary of the
Secretariat of the Chinese Communist Party The Central Secretariat of the Chinese Communist Party, officially the Secretariat of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, is a body serving the Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party and its Standing Committee. The secretariat is ...
. Zhong was promptly also transferred to Beijing to work for the
General Office of the Chinese Communist Party The General Office of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, often referred to as the Central Office (), is an office directly under the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party in charge of providing support for the Ce ...
. Upon arriving in Beijing, Zhong also enrolled in a doctorate program at the prestigious
Tsinghua University Tsinghua University (; abbreviation, abbr. THU) is a National university, national Public university, public research university in Beijing, China. The university is funded by the Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China, Minis ...
, some say he was admitted with the help of then Tsinghua party chief and friend Chen Xi. On June 11, 2013, Zhong was seen in military uniform (with the rank insignia of a senior colonel) on national television watching the launch of the ''
Shenzhou 10 Shenzhou 10 () was a crewed spaceflight of China's Shenzhou program that was launched on 11 June 2013. It was China's fifth crewed space mission. The mission had a crew of three astronauts: Nie Haisheng, who was mission commander and previous ...
'' spacecraft at the
Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center (JSLC; also known as Shuangchengzi Missile Test Center; Launch Complex B2; formally Northwest Comprehensive Missile Testing Facility (); Base 20; 63600 Unit) is a Chinese space vehicle launch facility (spac ...
accompanying Xi Jinping. Zhong's relationship with Xi has been compared to that between former General Secretary
Jiang Zemin Jiang Zemin (17 August 1926 – 30 November 2022) was a Chinese politician who served as general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from 1989 to 2002, as chairman of the Central Military Commission from 1989 to 2004, and as pres ...
and his former secretary
Jia Ting'an Jia Ting'an (; born September 3, 1952) is a retired general in the Chinese People's Liberation Army. He served as the deputy director of the Political Work Department. He was a principal aide to Jiang Zemin, former General Secretary of the Chines ...
(later promoted to General in the People's Liberation Army) and that between former General Secretary
Hu Jintao Hu Jintao (born 21 December 1942) is a Chinese politician who served as the 16–17th general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from 2002 to 2012, the 6th president of the People's Republic of China (PRC) from 2003 to 2013, an ...
and his chief aide
Ling Jihua Ling Jihua (; born 22 October 1956) is a former Chinese politician and one of the principal political advisers of former leader Hu Jintao. Ling was best known for his tenure as chief of the General Office of the Chinese Communist Party between ...
. However, there is not much publicly available information about Zhong or about his relationship with Xi Jinping. He has additionally been named as a member of the "
New Zhijiang Army The New Zhijiang Army (), also known as the Xi Jinping faction (), is a term used by observers to represent political figures in the Chinese Communist Party who are closely related to CCP general secretary Xi Jinping, most prominently those who ...
", that is, a trusted lieutenant of Xi Jinping who shares Xi's political philosophies and who may become an important political player or be destined for higher office in the near future.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zhong, Shaojun 1968 births Living people Zhejiang University alumni People's Republic of China politicians from Zhejiang Politicians from Quzhou People's Liberation Army generals from Zhejiang