Bo Xilai
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Bo Xilai (薄熙来; pinyin: Bó Xīlái) (born July 1949) is the current Minister of Commerce of the People's Republic of China.
Bo Xilai, a native of Dingrang in Shanxi Province, was born in July 1949, the son of Bo Yibo (薄一波), one of the Eight Immortals of Communist Party of China.
He began work in January 1968 and joined the Communist Party of China (CPC) in October 1980.
During the Cultural Revolution, when Bo was 17 years old, he was imprisoned along with members of his family for five years, after which they were placed in a labour camp for another five years until the Gang of Four were found guilty, resulting in their release. During that period, Bo's father was imprisoned and tortured for ten years and his mother was beaten to death.
Bo worked at the Hardware Repair Factory for the Beijing Second Light Industry Bureau before he was admitted to the Beijing University Department of History, majoring in world history, in 1977. He later graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree. In 1982, he graduated from the Postgraduate Institute of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences with a Masters degree.
Bo successively worked with the Research Office of the CPC Central Committee Secretariat and CPC Central Committee General Office, and served as deputy secretary and secretary of the Jinxian County Party Committee in Liaoning, deputy secretary and secretary of the Party Committee of the Dalian Economic and Technological Development Zone, secretary of the Jinzhou Prefectural Party Committee in Liaoning, standing committee member of the Dalian Municipal Party Committee, deputy mayor of Dalian, and deputy secretary of Dalian Municipal Party Committee.
He took up the post of acting mayor of Dalian prefecture in 1992 and mayor of Dalian from 1993. He was elected as deputy secretary of CPC Dalian Municipal Committee in June 1995. In January 1998, he was re-elected mayor of Dalian. In September 1999, he served as secretary of the CPC Dalian Municipal Committee.
Bo spent seventeen years in the city of Dalian, thus serving the longest time in a single region among the officials of China. Although his popularity with the people was well-known, he was denied promotions by Jiang Zemin. In January 2001, under the pressure of strong public opinion, Bo was transferred to the province as the vice governor which was an equal rank. In the aftermath of the Liaoning 'Mu & Ma' corruption scandal, Bo was appointed as acting governor of Liaoning Province. In January 2003, Bo was elected as governor of Liaoning at the first session of the tenth Liaoning People's Congress.
After Hu Jintao succeeded as the president, he ended Bo's 20 years service as a local official as Bo was appointed as the Minister of Commerce. Bo is also currently a member of the 16th CPC Central Committee.
Although the post of governor and mayor did not allow Bo into contact with issues relating to Falun Gong, he has been accused by them of persecution without factual evidence. Falun Gong took legal measures and has continued their attack on Bo, especially after he became the Minister of Commerce. Such accusation has been supported by Bo's political opponents based in Liaoning.
