Zhou Qiang

Zhou Qiang (Chinese: 周强; pinyin: Zhōu Qiáng; born April 1960) is the Associate Justice and President of the Supreme People's Court of China. Previously, he served as the secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Hunan committee, first-in-charge of the central Chinese province.^[1] He served as the province's governor between 2007 and 2010.

Life and career

Born in Huangmei County, Hubei Province, Zhou has obtained a postgraduate degree, and is a member of the Communist Party of China (CPC). He started working in August 1976.

In November 1995, he was elected to be the secretary of the central secretariat of the Chinese Communist Youth League (CYL) at the 4th plenary session of the 13th CYL central committee. In June 1998, he was elevated to first secretary of the CYL central secretariat, and was re-elected in July 2003. In September 2006, Zhou was appointed as a standing committee member and vice secretary of the CPC Hunan committee.

On September 30, he became the acting governor of Hunan, appointed by the standing committee of the 10th Hunan People's Congress. In December 2006, he resigned as the first secretary of the central secretariat of the CYL. On February 3, 2007, Zhou was confirmed as the governor of Hunan, and was re-elected on January 24, 2008. On April 25, 2010 he was appointed Secretary of the Hunan CPC Committee (and presumably also Chairman of the Hunan People's Congress Standing Committee).^[2] On November 23, 2011, Zhou was elected secretary of the Hunan Provincial Committee of the CPC.^[3] Zhou's ascendancy to the party secretary position in Hunan makes him China's third youngest provincial party secretary. His rise to power is comparable to that of then-President Hu Jintao and then-Vice-Premier Li Keqiang; all three men have background in the Communist Youth League of China.

In March 2013, the National People's Congress installed Zhou as the President of the Supreme People's Court of the People's Republic of China. Zhou has made statements favouring the promotion of rule of law and is expected to support President Xi Jinping's stated ambition to make the court system in China fairer.^[4]

Zhou is currently a member of the 18th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China.^[5] He was previously a member of the 16th and 17th Central Committees.

References