Wang Qishan

This is a Chinese name; the family name is Wang.
Wang Qishan
王岐山
Wang Qishan (2011)
Secretary of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection
Incumbent
Assumed office
15 November 2012
Deputy Zhao Hongzhu (first deputy);
Huang Shuxian, Du Jincai, Wu Yuliang, Zhang Jun, Chen Wenqing, Yang Xiaodu and Liu Jinguo
Preceded by He Guoqiang
Leader of the Central Leading Group for Inspection Work
Incumbent
Assumed office
15 November 2012
Deputy Zhao Leji
Zhao Hongzhu
Preceded by He Guoqiang
Vice Premier of the People's Republic of China
In office
15 March 2008 – 14 March 2013
Serving with Li Keqiang
Hui Liangyu, Zhang Dejiang
Premier Wen Jiabao
Portfolio Finance, Commerce, others
Personal details
Born July 1, 1948
Qingdao, Shandong
Nationality Chinese
Political party Communist Party of China
Alma mater Northwest University

Wang Qishan (Chinese: 王岐山; pinyin: Wáng Qíshān; born 1 July 1948) is a senior leader of the Communist Party of China. Since 2012 he has been a member of the seven-man Politburo Standing Committee, China's highest decision making body. He concurrently serves as Secretary of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, and has emerged as the public face of General Secretary Xi Jinping's anti-corruption campaign since 2013.

Wang gained prominence in China's financial sector in the late 1980s. In 1994 Wang became the Governor of the China Construction Bank. Wang then successively served in three regional roles: Vice-Governor of Guangdong, Party Secretary of Hainan, and Mayor of Beijing. Wang then served as Vice-Premier in charge of finance and commercial affairs under premier Wen Jiabao from March 2008 to March 2013, during which he also gained a seat on the party's Politburo.

Early life

Wang Qishan was born in Qingdao, Shandong, but his ancestral hometown is considered Tianzhen, Shanxi. After graduating high school, Wang worked as a "sent-down youth" in the countryside, performing manual labour with peasants on a commune in the revolutionary heartland of Yan'an. In 1973, Wang was admitted as a gongnongbing (worker-peasant-soldier) student at Northwest University in Xi'an, where he studied history and graduated in 1976. Wang met Yao Mingshan (姚明珊), the daughter of Yao Yilin, in Yan'an and the two later wed. After graduation, Wang worked in the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, researching late imperial Chinese history (1800s onwards) and Republican era (1912 - 1949) history. In 1982, Yao Yilin became an alternate member of the Central Secretariat, and Wang was elevated to the Secretariat's office on rural policy research. This marked the beginning of Wang's political career.[1]

Career in Finance

From 1982 to 1988, Wang worked in various posts in policy research. In 1988, Wang was transferred to become the chief executive of the Agricultural Investment Trust of China. A year later he became Vice Governor at China Construction Bank. Wang became Governor of the China Construction Bank in 1994 and served until 1997. During this time, Wang facilitated cooperation with U.S. investment bank Morgan Stanley, and was instrumental in the founding of China's first investment bank, the China International Capital Corp (CICC), and served as its first executive Chairman.

In 1997, Wang was transferred to Guangdong to become its Executive Vice Governor, one of the highest posts in the provincial government. At the height of the Asian Financial Crisis, Wang assisted then Guangdong Party Secretary Li Changchun in managing non-performing loans of various state owned enterprises in the province. Since then, Wang developed a reputation for being a "financial specialist". Next, Wang served as the General Office chief of the State Economic Structural Reform Commission (国家经济体制改革委员会).

Mayor of Beijing and Vice-Premiership

Wang took over from disgraced Beijing mayor Meng Xuenong when SARS struck the Chinese capital in spring 2003, at which time he was the Party Secretary in Hainan, and was confirmed as mayor in early 2004. From 2004-2007, Wang served as the Mayor of Beijing. He was known to be frank and responsible. In a recent "City Management Radio" programme, listeners were astonished to hear the mayor apologize. In 2007, he became a member of the Politburo of the 17th CPC Central Committee, a member of the 17th CPC Central Committee and in 2008 he became Vice Premier of the State Council.

In 2009, Wang was appointed by China's leader Hu Jintao as his special representative to chair the Economic Track of the U.S.-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue for the Chinese side.

Wang was named as one of the most influential people in the world in the 2009 Time 100 list.[2]

Politburo Standing Committee and Anti-corruption

In the lead up to the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China in 2012, Wang was seen by observers as a rising political star, with an diverse political pedigree spanning the realms of high finance, regional government, and policy development and execution. Wang ultimately entered the ranks of the Politburo Standing Committee, considered the pinnacle of power in China, at the 18th Party Congress, taking on the job of the Secretary of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, the party's top anti-graft body. Since late 2012, Wang has emerged as the public face of President and General Secretary Xi Jinping's anti-corruption campaign, the most far-reaching campaign of its sort since the founding of the Communist-ruled state in 1949. He also became the Leader of the Central Leading Group for Inspection Work, responsible for dispatching teams to the provinces and state-owned enterprises with the goal of rooting out corruption. The Economist comments that Wang is currently considereded the second most powerful man in China, second only to paramount leader Xi Jinping.[3]

Personal life

Wang is married to Yao Minshan, daughter of former vice-premier Yao Yilin.[4] He is sometimes considered a "princeling" through his marriage.[5]

U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Henry Paulson said that Wang is "decisive and inquisitive" and "an avid historian, enjoys philosophical debates and has a wicked sense of humor." Paulson writes, "He is a Chinese patriot, but he understands the U.S. and knows that each of our two countries benefits from the other's economic success. And he is bold — he takes on challenges, does things that have never been done before and succeeds. Wang managed the largest bankruptcy restructuring in China's history in 1998 and thereby prevented a banking crisis that could have crippled the country's growth."[2]

References

  1. ↑ 解读王岐山从知青到国务院副总理之路 原载《21世纪经济报道》 作者孙雷
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Wang Qishan" by Hank Paulson
  3. ↑ China’s second most powerful leader is admired and feared
  4. ↑ "Profiles: China's new leaders". BBC News. 15 November 2012. Retrieved 26 October 2013.
  5. ↑ Allen T. Cheng and Li Yanping (3 February 2008). "China May Tap `Princeling' Wang for Top Economic Policy Post". Bloomberg. Retrieved 26 October 2013.

External links

Party political offices
Preceded by
Bai Keming		 Secretary of the CPC Hainan Committee
2002 – 2003 		Succeeded by
Wang Xiaofeng
Preceded by
He Guoqiang		 Secretary of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection
since 2012 		Succeeded by
Incumbent
Political offices
Preceded by
Bai Keming		 Chairman of Hainan People's Congress
2003 		Succeeded by
Wang Xiaofeng
Preceded by
Meng Xuenong		 Mayor of Beijing
2003 – 2007 		Succeeded by
Guo Jinlong