Han Zheng
韩正
Han in 2018
Vice President of the People's Republic of China
Assumed office
10 March 2023
PresidentXi Jinping
Preceded byWang Qishan
First Vice Premier of the People's Republic of China
In office
19 March 2018 – 12 March 2023
PremierLi Keqiang
Preceded byZhang Gaoli
Succeeded byDing Xuexiang
Communist Party Secretary of Shanghai
In office
20 November 2012 – 29 October 2017
DeputyYang Xiong (mayor)
Ying Yong (mayor)
General SecretaryXi Jinping
Preceded byYu Zhengsheng
Succeeded byLi Qiang
In office
24 September 2006 – 24 March 2007
(acting)
General SecretaryHu Jintao
Preceded byChen Liangyu
Succeeded byXi Jinping
20th Mayor of Shanghai
In office
24 March 2003 – 26 December 2012
Preceded byChen Liangyu
Succeeded byYang Xiong
Personal details
Born (1954-04-22) 22 April 1954
Shanghai, China
Political partyChinese Communist Party (1979-)
Spouse(s)Wan Ming
(m.1984)
Children1 daughter
Alma materEast China Normal University, Fudan University
Websitewww.gov.cn/hanzheng
Leading Groups
and Commissions
Han Zheng
"Han Zheng" in Simplified (top) and Traditional (bottom) Chinese characters
Simplified Chinese韩正
Traditional Chinese韓正

Han Zheng (Chinese: 韩正; pinyin: Hán Zhèng; born 22 April 1954) is a Chinese politician serving as the current vice president of the People's Republic of China since 2023. He previously served as the first vice premier of the People's Republic of China between 2018 and 2023, and as a member of the Politburo Standing Committee of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) between 2017 and 2022.

Han served as Communist Party deputy secretary and mayor of Shanghai between 2003 and 2012. In November 2012, he was promoted to become the Party Secretary of Shanghai, the top political post in the city, and also gained a seat on the CCP Politburo.

Early career

He was born in Shanghai on 22 April 1954, but traces his ancestry to Cixi, in neighbouring Zhejiang province.[1] He was a sent-down youth during the Cultural Revolution, working at a collective farm in Chongming County, Shanghai. He later worked at a warehouse of a lifting installation company, later working at the company's supply and marketing division. He additionally served as a deputy secretary of the Communist Youth League of China (CYLC) between 1975 and 1980. He joined the Chinese Communist Party in 1979.[2]

He then worked at the Shanghai Chemical Equipment Industry company in an administrative role between 1980 and 1982.[2] He was the secretary of the CYLC committee at the Chemical Industry Bureau of the Shanghai Municipal People's Government between 1982 and 1986, and the deputy CCP secretary of the Shanghai School of Chemical Engineering between 1986 and 1987. He worked as the CCP secretary and deputy director of the Shanghai No. 6 Rubber Shoes Factory between 1987 and 1988; during this time, he was praised by then Shanghai mayor Zhu Rongji.[3]

He was the CCP secretary and deputy director of the Dazhonghua Rubber Plant between 1988 and 1990. Between 1983 and 1985, he additionally attended a two-year college program in Fudan University, and later completed an undergraduate degree in politics at the East China Normal University between 1985 and 1987 through part-time studies.[2]

In June 1990, Han officially entered the CYLC Shanghai Committee, and would rise to become its deputy secretary in charge of day-to-day work, then elevated to secretary in 1991.[2] In November 1992 he was named governor and deputy CCP secretary of Luwan District. During his tenure in the district, Han spearheaded the Huaihai Road revitalization initiative, transforming the street to a glamorous shopping destination. Han also focused on fixing the ecology of the district and expanding its green spaces. He then obtained a master's degree in international political economy from East China Normal University between 1991 and 1994 and earned the title of senior economist.[2][4]

Career in Shanghai

In July 1995, Han was named deputy secretary-general of the Shanghai Municipal People's Government, during which he was made the deputy CCP secretary of the Municipal Comprehensive Economic Work Committee, the director of the e City Planning Commission, and the director of the Securities Management Office. In December 1997, he was named a member of the municipal CCP Standing Committee for the first time, entering sub-provincial ranks.[2] In February 1998 he was named vice mayor of Shanghai; in May 2002 he was named Deputy CCP Secretary of Shanghai.[4]

Han joined the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party at the 16th Party Congress in 2002. In 2003 he was named the Mayor of Shanghai at age 48, the youngest Mayor the city has seen in fifty years. A vocal advocate of the Shanghai real estate boom, Han has a largely positive image with the Shanghai citizenry for his openness and transparency. However, because he served under Chen Liangyu, the CCP Shanghai Secretary at the time, Han supported many of Chen's policies, notably those favouring Shanghai's regional development, in contrast to a more balanced approach favoured by the national leadership.

Han with the President of Brazil, Lula da Silva in 2004

On 25 September 2006, Han became the acting CCP Committee Secretary of Shanghai after the dismissal of Chen Liangyu over corruption probes during the Shanghai pension scandal. With what were believed to be stern messages sent by Party general secretary Hu Jintao, Han led a municipal task force to crack down on the corruption in Shanghai, and has since then been believed to be a Hu loyalist. His tenure as the interim party secretary in Shanghai lasted a mere five months, when on 24 March 2007, Xi Jinping was 'parachuted' into the office of Shanghai Party Secretary from the same post in the neighbouring province of Zhejiang. Xi later became the member of CCP Politburo Standing Committee after 17th Party Congress in October 2007. Han proved to be a 'political survivor' however, having served under party secretaries Chen Liangyu, Xi Jinping, and Yu Zhengsheng in the Mayor's office.

Due to his long career in Shanghai, Han is considered to be a member of the Shanghai clique. Han assumed the party secretary post in November 2012, shortly after the conclusion of the 18th CCP National Congress, and also gained a seat on the 18th Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party.[5]

First Vice Premier

Han was chosen to be a member of the 19th CCP Politburo Standing Committee, China's top decision-making body, at the first plenary session of the 19th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party on 25 October 2017.[6] In March 2018 the National People's Congress appointed him as the first-ranked vice premier of the State Council.

Hong Kong

Han succeeded Zhang Dejiang as the leader of the Central Coordination Group for Hong Kong and Macau Affairs in April 2018, making him the CCP's top leader in regards to Hong Kong and Macau affairs. The Central Coordination Group was later upgraded to a Central Leading Group in 2020.[7]

Han was a key figure in the Chinese leadership's response during the 2019–2020 Hong Kong protests.[8] According to a Reuters report in 2019, shortly after the storming of the Legislative Council Complex, Han Zheng authorized Hong Kong chief executive Carrie Lam to directly communicate with his office, rather than go through the Hong Kong Liaison Office.[8] It also reported that Han summoned Lam to the Bauhinia Villa, used by the Chinese government for talks with Hong Kong officials, on 12 June. There, Lam proposed the suspension of the extradition bill which triggered the protests, which Han then agreed to after talking to other leaders in China.[8]

In March 2021, Han said that electoral reforms in Hong Kong, designed to reduce the power of district councillors and to increase the power of the election committee, were being implemented to "prevent subversion."[9]

Vice President

Han with British foreign secretary James Cleverly in 2023

After the 20th CCP National Congress in October 2021, Han Zheng retired from the Politburo Standing Committee, as well as the broader Central Committee, at the age of 66.[10] He was subsequently elected as a deputy to the 14th National People's Congress (NPC), the only departing PSC member to do so. On March 10, 2023, Han Zheng was elected during the first session of the 14th NPC as the vice president of the People's Republic of China, succeeding Wang Qishan.[11]

As vice president, Han has taken part in diplomatic activities. Han was President Xi's special representative at the coronation of Charles III and Camilla in May.[12] He additionally attended the general debate of the seventy-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly, giving a speech on 21 September.[13] Han also met with US secretary of state Antony Blinken on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.[14]

Family

Han Zheng is married to Wang Ming, who reportedly once served as a vice chair of the Shanghai Charity Foundation. They have one daughter.[2]

References

  1. ↑ 韩正同志简历 (in Chinese (China)). Xinhua News Shanghai. 22 May 2012. Archived from the original on 4 January 2014. Retrieved 6 September 2013.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Cheng, Li. "Han Zheng 韩正" (PDF). Brookings Institution. Retrieved 2 September 2023.
  3. ↑ Xu Yanyan (14 August 2013). 韩正回忆朱镕基下工厂：第一句话就是批评 (in Chinese (China)). Yicai. Archived from the original on 24 August 2013. Retrieved 18 August 2015.
  4. 1 2 "Biography of Han Zheng". China Vitae. Retrieved 16 January 2012.
  5. ↑ 韩正辞去上海市市长职务 杨雄任上海市代市长. Eastday (in Chinese). 26 December 2012. Retrieved 30 December 2012.
  6. ↑ Wen, Philip; Blanchard, Ben (24 October 2017). "China unveils new leadership line-up with no clear successor to Xi". Reuters. Retrieved 26 October 2017.
  7. ↑ Cheung, Tony; Cheung, Gary; Lok-kei, Sum (29 May 2020). "National security law: Hong Kong delegates to NPC say US retaliatory measures will not weaken Beijing's resolve". South China Morning Post. Retrieved 30 May 2020.
  8. 1 2 3 Zhai, Keith; Pomfret, James; Kirton, David (26 November 2019). "Exclusive: China sets up Hong Kong crisis center in mainland, considers replacing chief liaison". Reuters. Retrieved 3 September 2023.
  9. ↑ "Han Zheng calls overhaul 'a war against subversion' - RTHK". news.rthk.hk. Retrieved 16 March 2021.
  10. ↑ "中共二十大闭幕：李克强汪洋韩正栗战书未名列中央委员". BBC News 中文 (in Simplified Chinese). Retrieved 10 March 2023.
  11. ↑ Ma, Josephine (10 March 2023). "Meet Han Zheng, the man just appointed China's new vice-president". South China Morning Post. Retrieved 30 August 2023.
  12. ↑ "Chinese vice president attends King Charles III's coronation ceremony". Xinhua News Agency. 7 May 2023. Retrieved 21 September 2023.
  13. ↑ Magnier, Mark (22 September 2023). "Chinese Vice-President Han Zheng tells UN General Assembly to oppose 'hegemonism'". South China Morning Post. Retrieved 22 September 2023.
  14. ↑ "Top US diplomat Blinken meets China's VP Han at U.N. amid strained ties".
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