Chen Zhili (; born November 1942) is a retired senior Chinese politician who served as

State Councilor A State Councillor of the People's Republic of China () serves as a senior vice leader within the State Council and shares responsibilities with the Vice Premiers in assisting the Premier in the administration and coordination of governmental a ...

and

Minister of Education An education minister (sometimes minister of education) is a position in the governments of some countries responsible for dealing with educational matters. Where known, the government department, ministry, or agency that develops policy and deli ...

, and a Vice Chairwoman of the National People’s Congress. She was also vice chairwoman of the organization commission of the

2008 Beijing Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes fro ...

Biography

Born in Xianyou County,

Fujian Province Fujian is a province in southeastern China. Fujian is bordered by Zhejiang to the north, Jiangxi to the west, Guangdong to the south, and the Taiwan Strait to the east. Its capital is Fuzhou and its largest prefecture city by population is Qua ...

, Chen graduated from the department of physics at

Fudan University Fudan University (FDU) is a public university, national public university in Yangpu, Shanghai, Yangpu, Shanghai, China. It is affiliated with the Ministry of Education (China), Ministry of Education and is co-funded with the Shanghai Municipal ...

. She pursued her postgraduate degree at Shanghai Institute of Ceramics of

Chinese Academy of Sciences The Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS; ) is the national academy for natural sciences and the highest consultancy for science and technology of the People's Republic of China. It is the world's largest research organization, with 106 research i ...

, doing research of solid-state physics. Chen joined the

Chinese Communist Party The Communist Party of China (CPC), also translated into English as Chinese Communist Party (CCP), is the founding and One-party state, sole ruling party of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Founded in 1921, the CCP emerged victorious in the ...

("CCP") in January 1961. At the beginning of the

Cultural Revolution The Cultural Revolution, formally known as the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, was a Social movement, sociopolitical movement in the China, People's Republic of China (PRC). It was launched by Mao Zedong in 1966 and lasted until his de ...

, Chen was sent to work in an army farm for two years before returning to the Institute. In 1982, she was at

Penn State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsyl ...

in the United States as a visiting scholar. After that, she was elevated to vice Party Chief of the Institute, and thus transformed from a scholar to a CCP official. Chen's former posts in

Shanghai Shanghai, Shanghainese: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: is a direct-administered municipality and the most populous urban area in China. The city is located on the Chinese shoreline on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the ...

included vice secretary and later, secretary of the CCP committee of Shanghai Science and Technology Commission, director of the propaganda department of Shanghai, and vice secretary of CCP Shanghai committee. During her tenure in Shanghai,

Jiang Zemin Jiang Zemin (17 August 1926 – 30 November 2022) was a Chinese politician who served as General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party, general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from 1989 to 2002, as Chairman of the Central Mil ...

Zhu Rongji Zhu Rongji ( zh, s=朱镕基; IPA: ; born 23 October 1928) is a retired Chinese politician who served as the 5th premier of China from 1998 to 2003. He also served as member of the Politburo Standing Committee of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP ...

Wu Bangguo Wu Bangguo (22 July 1941 – 8 October 2024) was a Chinese politician who served as the second-ranking member of the Politburo Standing Committee of the Chinese Communist Party from 2002 to 2012, and as Chairman of the Standing Committee of the ...

and Huang Ju served as Shanghai's Party chief. In August 1997, Chen was transferred to central government and appointed as vice director and leader of Party group of National Education Commission. In 1998, she became the Minister of Education. In 2003, she was further elevated to the position of

, in charge of education, culture and sports. In March 2008, Chen was elected a

Vice Chairperson of the National People's Congress The vice chairpersons of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress are deputies to the Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, respon ...

. On April 12, 2008, she was appointed as governor of Beijing Olympic Village. Chen was an alternate member of 13th and 14th Central Committees of the Chinese Communist Party, and a full member of 15th, 16th, 17th Central Committees.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Chen, Zhili 1942 births Living people Ministers of education of the People's Republic of China Recipients of the Olympic Order People's Republic of China politicians from Fujian People from Xianyou County Politicians from Putian Political office-holders in Shanghai Fudan University alumni Vice chairpersons of the National People's Congress Women state councillors of China Chinese Communist Party politicians from Fujian All-China Women's Federation people