Song Defu (Chinese: 宋德福; pinyin: Sòng Défú; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Song Tek-hok; February 1946 - September 13, 2007) was a politician of the People's Republic of China. He was born in Yanshan, Hebei Province, and was educated at college. He joined the People's Liberation Army in 1965, and the Communist Party of China the same year. He was an alternate member of CPC's 12th central committee, and a member of 13th - 16th central committee. He was a member of standing committee of the 9th National Political Consultative Conference. His former posts include the first secretary of central secretariat of Communist Youth League, Minister of Personnel, vice director of central specialists coordination group, the secretary of CPC's Fujian committee, the chairman of standing committee of Fujian people's congress. He died of disease at 4:56 am on September 13, 2007 in Beijing, at age of 61.
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Song Defu was born into a CPC's official's family. He joined the army at 19, and retired from service in 1993. Thanks to the recommendation of the army, he entered Communist Youth League headquarter in 1983, and used to work with Hu Jintao. In 1985, he succeeded Hu as the first secretary of CYL. Meanwhile, he also served as vice director of organization department of General Political Department in the army. From 1985 - 1993, he remained a critical leader of Communist Youth League. His colleagues at CYL during that time included some prominent figures in future Chinese politics, such as Liu Yandong, Zhang Baoshun, Li Keqiang, Li Yuanchao, Liu Qibao, Yuan Chunqing, etc.[1] In 1993, Song entered the state council and became the Minister of Personnel. At age of 47, he was then the youngest minister in the government.
In 2002, the new generation of leaders emerged in China, and Song was deemed a promising future. He was regarded as a leader with the most abundant political experience, including not only military background, but also positions ranging from Communist Youth League, major ministry of state department to provincial government. However, due to health problem, Song didn't have the chance to realize his ambition on a larger political stage.
On his death ceremony, following his will, he was wearing military uniform and red tie. His body was covered by the flag of Communist Party of China, and the flag of Communist Youth League was placed by his head.
| Party political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Hu Jintao |
First Secretary of the Communist Youth League of China 1985 – 1993 |
Succeeded by Li Keqiang |
| Preceded by Chen Mingyi |
Secretary of the Communist Party of China Fujian Committee 2000 – 2004 |
Succeeded by Lu Zhangong |