China Insight
Follow the Leaders: These Are All the Members of China’s 20th Central Committee & Politburo Standing Committee
Full list of names including the members of China’s new 20th Central Committee, the Politburo, and its Standing Committee.
Published
5 months agoon
PREMIUM CONTENT ARTICLE
Which Party members will lead China in the next five years? These are the names you need to know: all the full members of China’s new Central Committee, the Politburo, and its Standing Committee.
The 20th Party Congress has concluded and China’s new leadership for the next five years has been revealed. All of the new full and alternate members of the 20th Central Committee were announced on October 22 and a day later, on October 23rd, the new seven-member Politburo Standing Committee was unveiled.
As was widely expected, Xi Jinping will continue his third five-year term as leader.
The lists with new member names went trending on Chinese social media. On Weibo alone, the hashtag “20th Central Committee Members List” (#二十届中央委员会委员名单#) received a staggering 580 million clicks within two days time. There were also other trending hashtags during the weekend of the closing session of the 20th Party Congress, such as “The Resumes of the New Politburo Standing Committee Members” (#新一届中央政治局常委简历#).
The Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party (中国共产党中央委员会) is, theoretically, the highest authority within the Party pyramid, and its members (generally 170-205 full members) are nominally elected every five years by the National Party Congress. It is the primary authority of the Central Committee to elect the Politburo (中国共产党中央政治局), which actually is the top decision-making body in the Party (21-25 members).
Among the members of the Politburo are those of the Standing Committee (中国共产党中央政治局常务委员会), which basically is the core leadership of the Party (generally 5-11 members, including the Party General Secretary). This is the list of names that everyone has been mostly waiting to see this week.
Here, we will list the member names of China’s new 20th Central Committee, the Politburo, and its Standing Committee. We have put them in alphabetical order, based on the first letter of their written in pinyin, and have included all names in characters.
The 20th Central Committee (Full Members)
Noteworthy:
– The 19th Central Committee was composed of 204 full members (among them only 10 women), this 20th Central Committee list contains 205 full members and 11 of them are women.
– Nine of these members come from a minority ethnic group, including one Uyghur.
– Premier Li Keqiang and the head of the National People’s Congress, Li Zhanshu, the second- and third-highest ranking officials in the party, have not been included, neither have Wang Yang, the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference chairman and Vice-Premier Han Zheng.
Abbreviations:
– CMC = Central Military Commission
– CPC = Communist Party of China
– CSSC = China State Shipbuilding Corporation
– PLA = People’s Liberation Army
(The 171 alternate members of the 20th Central Committee, who do not have voting rights, have not been listed here).
1. Bate’er 巴特尔 (Mongolian) (Vice Chairperson of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference)
2. Cai Jianjiang 蔡剑江 (Director of the Office of the Central Air Traffic Management Commission)
3. Cai Qi 蔡奇 (New Politburo Standing Committee member, Party Secretary of Beijing)
4. Chang Dingqiu 常丁求 (PLA General, Commander of PLA Air Force)
5. Chen Gang 陈刚 (Party Secretary of the All-China Federation of Trade Unions)
6. Chen Jining 陈吉宁 (New Politburo member, Deputy Party Secretary, Mayor of Beijing)
7. Chen Min’er 陈敏尔 (18th-20th Politburo member, Party Chief of Chongqing)
8. Chen Wenqing 陈文清 (New Politburo member, Ministry of State Security Minister, Party Secretary)
9. Chen Xiaojiang 陈小江 (Executive Deputy Head of the United Front Work Department of the CPC Central Committee)
10. Chen Xu 陈旭 (female) (Deputy Head of the CPC United Front Work Department, Director of the Overseas Chinese Affairs Office)
11. Chen Yixin 陈一新 (Secretary-General of the Central Political and Legal Affairs Commission)
12. Cheng Lihua 程丽华 (female) (Deputy Secretary of Anhui Provincial Party Committee)
13. Ding Xuedong 丁学东 (Deputy Secretary-General of the State Council of the People’s Republic of China)
14. Ding Xuexiang 丁薛祥 (New Politburo Standing Committee member, a senior aide to Xi Jinping)
15. Dong Jun 董军 (PLA Admiral, Commander of the People’s Liberation Army Navy)
16. Erkin Tuniyaz 艾尔肯·吐尼亚孜 (Uyghur) (Chairman of Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region)
17. Feng Fei 冯飞 (Governor of Hainan)
18. Fu Hua 傅华 (President of Xinhua News Agency)
19. Gao Xiang 高翔 (Vice President, Deputy Secretary of the Party core group of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences)
20. Gao Zhidan 高志丹 (Director of the State General Administration of Sports)
21. Gong Zheng 龚正 (Mayor and Deputy Communist Party Secretary of Shanghai Municipality)
22. Guo Puzheng 郭普校 (Political Commissar to the PLA Air Force)
23. Han Jun 韩俊 (Governor of Jilin Province)
24. Han Wenxiu 韩文秀 (Deputy Director, Research Office of the State Council)
25. Hao Peng 郝鹏 (Chairman and Party Committee Secretary of the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission)
26. He Hongjun 何宏军 (PLA Lieutenant General)
27. He Junke 贺军科 (First Secretary of the Communist Youth League of China)
28. He Lifeng 何立峰 (New Politburo member, head of the National Development and Reform Commission)
29. He Rong (female) 贺荣 (Deputy Chief Justice, Executive Vice president of the Supreme People’s Court of China)
30. He Weidong 何卫东 (New Politburo member, Commander of the CMC’s Joint Command Centre)
31. Hou Jianguo 侯建国 (former President of the University of Science and Technology of China)
32. Hou Kai 侯凯 (Member of Standing Committee of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, Auditor General of the National Audit Office)
33. Hu Changsheng 胡昌升 (Governor of Heilongjiang)
34. Hu Chunhua 胡春华 (former Politburo member, Vice Premier of the People’s Republic of China)
35. Hu Henghua 胡衡华 (Deputy Party Secretary and Mayor of Chongqing)
36. Hu Heping 胡和平 (Party Secretary of Ministry of Culture and Tourism)
37. Hu Yuting 胡玉亭 (Deputy Secretary of the Liaoning Provincial Committee)
38. Hu Zhongming 胡中明 (PLA Vice Admiral, Chief of Staff of the PLA Navy)
39. Huai Jinpeng 怀进鹏 (Party Secretary of the China Association for Science and Technology)
40. Huang Jianfa 黄建发 (Deputy Secretary of the Zhejiang Provincial Party Committee)
41. Huang Kunming 黄坤明 (19th/20th Politburo member, head of the CPC Publicity Department)
42. Huang Ming 黄铭 (PLA Lieutenant General, Chief of Staff of the PLA)
43. Huang Qiang 黄强 (Governor of Sichuan Province)
44. Huang Shouhong 黄守宏 (Director of the State Council Research Office)
45. Huang Xiaowei 黄晓薇 (female) (Party Decretary of the All-China Women’s Federation)
46. Jin Xiangjun 金湘军 (Deputy Mayor of Tianjin)
47. Jin Zhuanglong 金壮龙 (Minister of Industry and Information Technology)
48. Jing Junhai 景俊海 (Governor of Jilin)
49. Ju Qiansheng 巨乾生 (PLA General, Commander of the PLA Strategic Support Force)
50. Lan Fo’an 蓝佛安 (Governor of Shanxi)
51. Lan Tianli 蓝天立 (Zhuang ethnic group) (Chairman, Deputy Party Chief of Guangxi)
52. Lei Fanpei 雷凡培 (former Party Secretary, Chairman of CSSC)
53. Li Bingjun 李炳军 (Governor of Guizhou Province)
54. Li Fengbiao 李凤彪 (PLA General, Political commissar of the Western Theater Command)
55. Li Ganjie 李干杰 (New Politburo member, Party Secretary of Shandong)
56. Li Guoying 李国英 (Governor of Anhui province)
57. Li Hongzhong 李鸿忠 (also 19th/20th Politburo member, Tianjin Party Secretary)
58. Li Lecheng 李乐成 (Governor of Liaoning)
59. Li Qiang 李强 (New Politburo Standing Committee member, 19th/20th Politburo member and Party Secretary of Shanghai)
60. Li Qiaoming 李桥铭 (PLA General, former commander of the Northern Theater Command)
61. Li Shangfu 李尚福 (PLA General, Head of the Equipment Development Department of the Central Military Commission)
62. Li Shulei 李书磊 (New Politburo member, Executive Deputy Head of the Publicity Department)
63. Li Wei 李伟 (former Director of the Development Research Center of the State Council)
64. Li Xi 李希 (New Politburo Standing Committee member, 19th/20th Politburo member and Party Secretary of Guangdong, Secretary of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection)
65. Li Xiaohong 李晓红 (President of the Chinese Academy of Engineering)
66. Li Xiaoxin 李小新 (female) (Vice Minister of the Organization Department of the CPC Central Committee (ODCPC)
67. Li Yi 李屹 (Party branch Secretary, Vice president of China Federation of Literary and Art Circles)
68. Li Yifei 李邑飞 (Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region)
69. Li Yuchao 李玉超 (PLA General, Commander of PLA Rocket Force)
70. Liang Huiling 梁惠玲 (female) (Chair of the All-China Federation of Supply and Marketing Cooperatives)
71. Liang Yanshun 梁言顺 (Party Secretary of Ningxia)
72. Lin Wu 林武 (Party Secretary of Shanxi)
73. Lin Xiangyang 林向阳 (PLA General, Commander of Eastern Theater Command)
74. Liu Faqing 刘发庆 (PLA Lieutenant General, Secretary-General of National Defense Mobilization Commission)
75. Liu Guozhong 刘国中 (New Politburo Member, Party Secretary of Shaanxi)
76. Liu Haixing 刘海星 (Deputy Director in the Office of the National Security Commission)
77. Liu Jianchao 刘建超 (Director of the International Liaison Department of the CPC)
78. Liu Jinguo 刘金国 (Deputy Secretary of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection)
79. Liu Junchen 刘俊臣 (Deputy Secretary of Party Organs Working Committee)
80. Liu Ning 刘宁 (Party Secretary of Guangxi)
81. Liu Qingsong 刘青松 (PLA Admiral, Political Commissar of the Northern Theater Command)
82. Liu Wei 刘伟 (Chairman of the CPPCC Henan Committee)
83. Liu Xiaoming 刘小明 (former Ambassador of China to the United Kingdom)
84. Liu Zhenli 刘振立 (PLA General, Commander of the PLA Ground Force)
85. Lou Yangsheng 楼阳生 (Party Secretary of Henan Province)
86. Lu Hao 陆昊 (Party Branch Secretary of Development Research Center of the State Council)
87. Lu Zhiyuan 陆治原 (Deputy Secretary of Shandong Provincial Committee, Secretary of Qingdao Municipal Committee)
88. Luo Wen 罗文 (Head of China’s State General Administration for Market Regulation)
89. Ma Xiaowei马晓伟 (National Health Commission Director, Vice President of the Red Cross Society of China)
90. Ma Xingrui 马兴瑞 (New Politburo member, Xinjiang Party Secretary, former Guangdong governor)
91. Mao Weiming 毛伟明 (Governor of Hunan Province)
92. Meng Fanli 孟凡利 (Party Secretary of Shenzhen, Deputy Party Secretary of Guangdong)
93. Meng Xiangfeng 孟祥锋 (Executive Deputy Director of the General Office of CPC)
94. Miao Hua 苗华 (19th/20th CC, Admiral of the Chinese PLA Navy, Director of Political Work Department of Central Military Commission)
95. Ni Hong 倪虹 (Minister of Housing and Urban-Rural Development)
96. Ni Yuefeng 倪岳 峰 (Party Secretary of Hebei)
97. Nurlan Abelmanjen 努尔兰·阿不都满金 (Kazakh) (Chairman of the Xinjiang Regional Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference)
98. Pan Yue 潘岳 (Minister of the State Ethnic Affairs Commission)
99. Pei Jinjia 裴金佳 (Minister of Veterans Affairs)
100. Qi Yu 齐玉 (Secretary of the CPC Committee of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs)
101. Qin Gang 秦刚 (Chinese Ambassador to the United States)
102. Qin Shutong 秦树桐 (PLA General, Political Commissar of the PLA Ground Force)
103. Qu Qingshan 曲青山 (President of the Institute of Party History and Literature of the Central Committee of CPC)
104. Ren Zhenhe 任振鹤 (Tujia ethnic group) (Governor of Gansu Province)
105. Shen Chunyao 沈春耀 (Chairperson of the Legislative Affairs Committee of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress)
106. Shen Haixiong 慎海雄 (Propaganda Chief of Guangdong Province)
107. Shen Xiaoming 沈晓明 (former Governor of Hainan)
108. Shen Yiqing 谌贻琴 (female, Bai ethnic group) (Communist Party Secretary of Guizhou)
109. Shen Yueyue 沈跃跃 (female) (President of the All-China Women’s Federation)
110. Shi Taifeng 石泰峰 (New Politburo member, President of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences)
111. Sun Jinlong 孙金龙 (Party Branch Secretary of the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps)
112. Sun Shaocheng 孙绍骋 (Party Secretary of Inner Mongolia)
113. Tang Dengjie 唐登杰 (Minister of Civil Affairs)
114. Tang Renjian 唐仁健 (Governor of Gansu Province)
115. Tie Ning 铁凝 (female) (President of the China Writers Association)
116. Tong Jianming 童建明 (Grand Prosecutor and first Deputy Prosecutor General of the Supreme People’s Procuratorate)
117. Tuo Zhen 庹震 (President of the People’s Daily)
118. Wan Lijun 万立骏 (researcher, former President of the University of Science and Technology of China)
119. Wang Chunning 王春宁 (PLA General, Commander of the People’s Armed Police)
120. Wang Dongming 王东明 (Vice Chairman of the Standing Committee, Chairman of the All-China Federation of Trade Unions)
121. Wang Guanghua 王广华 (Minister of Natural Resources)
122. Wang Haijiang (PLA General, Commander of Western Theater Command)
123. Wang Hao 王浩 (Governor of Zhejiang)
124. Wang Huning 王沪宁 (Politburo Standing Committee since 2017, 19th/20th Politburo member, First Secretary of the Secretariat of the Chinese Communist Party)
125. Wang Junzheng 王君正 (Communist Party Secretary of Tibet)
126. Wang Kai 王凯 (Governor of Henan Province)
127. Wang Kai 王凯 (Lieutenant General of the PLA)
128. Wang Lixia 王莉霞 (female, Mongolian) (Deputy Party Chief, Party branch Secretary, Chairwoman of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region)
129. Wang Menghui 王蒙徽 (Communist Party Secretary of Hubei)
130. Wang Ning 王宁 (Party Secretary of Yunnan)
131. Wang Peng 王鹏 (Vice President and Chief of Education of the People’s Liberation Army National Defence University)
132. Wang Qiang 王强 (PLA General, Commander of the North Sea Fleet)
133. Wang Qingxian 王清宪 (Governor of Anhui)
134. Wang Renhua 王仁华 (Vice Admiral of the PLA, Secretary of the Political and Legal Affairs Commission of the Central Military Commission)
135. Wang Shouwen 王受文 (China International Trade Representative, Vice Minister of Commerce)
136. Wang Weizhong 王伟中 (Deputy Party Secretary, Governor of Guangdong)
137. Wang Wenquan 王文全 (Political Commissar of the Joint Logistics Support Unit of the Central Military Commission)
138. Wang Wentao 王文涛 (Minister of Commerce)
139. Wang Xiangxi 王祥喜 (Minister of Emergency Management)
140. Wang Xiaohong 王小洪 (Party Secretary, Minister of Public Security)
141. Wang Xiaohui 王晓晖 (Party Secretary of Sichuan)
142. Wang Xiubin 王秀斌 (PLA General, Commander of the Southern Theater Command)
143. Wang Yi 王毅 (New Politburo member, State Councillor and Foreign Minister)
144. Wang Yong 王勇 (Chinese State Councilor)
145. Wang Yubo 王予波 (Governor of Yunnan Province)
146. Wang Zhengpu 王正谱 (Governor of Hebei)
147. Wang Zhijun 王志军 (Vice Minister of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology)
148. Wang Zhonglin 王忠林 (Governor of Hubei)
149. Wu Hansheng 吴汉圣 (Deputy Secretary of Work Committee of Central Government in charge of Daily Work)
150. Wu Xiaojun 吴晓军 (Governor of Qinghai)
151. Wu Yanan 吴亚男 (General of the PLA, Commander of the Central Theater Command)
152. Wu Zhenglong 吴政隆 (Secretary of Jiangsu)
153. Xi Jinping 习近平 (General Secretary of the Party, President PRC, Chairman of the Central Military Commission)
154. Xiao Jie 肖捷 (State Councilor, Secretary General of the State Council)
155. Xiao Pei 肖培 (Deputy Secretary of the CPC Committee for Discipline and Inspection)
156. Xie Chuntao 谢春涛 (Vice President of the Central Party School of the Chinese Communist Party)
157. Xin Changxing 信长星 (Party Secretary of Qinghai)
158. Xu Deqing 徐德清 (General of PLA, Political Commissar of the Central Theater Command)
159. Xu Kunlin 许昆林 (Governor of Jiangsu)
160. Xu Lin 徐麟 (Director of the National Radio and Television Administration)
161. Xu Qiling 徐起零 (General of the PLA)
162. Xu Qin 许勤 (Former Governor of Hebei)
163. Xu Xisheng 徐西盛 (Political Commissar of Southern Theater Command Air Force)
164. Xu Xueqiang 许学强 (General of the PLA, President of PLA National Defence University)
165. Xu Zhongbo 徐忠波 (PLA General, Political Commissar of PLA Army Rocket Force)
166. Yan Jinhai (Tibetan) (Chairman of Tibet Autonomous Region)
167. Yang Cheng 杨诚 (Lieutenant General of the PLA, Political Commissar of the Xinjiang Military District)
168. Yang Xuejun 杨学军 (President of the PLA Academy of Military Science)
169. Yang Zhiliang 杨志亮 (Vice Admiral of the PLA Navy, Political Commissar of the South Sea Fleet)
170. Ye Jianchun 叶建春 (Governor of Jiangxi)
171. Yi Huiman 易会满 (Head of the China Securities and Regulatory Commission)
172. Yi Lianhong 易炼红 (Party Secretary of Jiangxi)
173. Yin Hejun 阴和俊 (Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee of the Chinese Academy of Sciences)
174. Yin Hong 尹弘 (former Governor of Henan Province)
175. Yin Li 尹力 (New Politburo member / Communist Party Secretary of Fujian)
176. Yin Yong 殷勇 (Deputy Prosecutor-General of the Supreme People’s Procuratorate)
177. Ying Yong (deputy party chief of the municipality of Beijing and a former deputy governor of the People’s Bank of China)
178. Yu Jianhua 俞建华 (Head of the General Administration of Customs)
179. Yu Qingjiang 俞庆江 (Lieutenant General of the PLA Air Force, Chief of Staff of PLA)
180. Yuan Huazhi 袁华智 (Admiral and Political Commissar of the PLA)
181. Yuan Jiajun 袁家军 (New Politburo member, Zhejiang Party Secretary)
182. Zhang Gong 张工 (Mayor of Tianjin)
183. Zhang Guoqing 张国清 (New Politburo member, Party Secretary of Liaoning)
184. Zhang Hongbing 张红兵 (PLA Political Commissar)
185. Zhang Hongsen 张宏森 (Party Branch Secretary of China Writers Association)
186. Zhang Jun 张军 (Procurator-General of the Supreme People’s Procuratorate)
187. Zhang Lin 张林 (Head of the Logistic Support Department of the Central Military Commission)
188. Zhang Qingwei 张庆伟 (Secretary of Hunan, former Governor of Hebei)
189. Zhang Shengmin 张升民 (Secretary of the Commission for Discipline Inspection of the Central Military Commission of PLA)
190. Zhang Youxia 张又侠 (19th/20th Politburo member, General in the PLA, second-ranked Vice Chairman of the Central Military Commission)
191. Zhang Yupu 张雨浦 (Hui) (Chairman of Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region)
192. Zhang Yuzhuo 张玉卓 (Party branch secretary of the China Association for Science and Technology)
193. Zhao Gang 赵刚 (Member Standing Committee of Zaozhuang Municipal Committee)
194. Zhao Leji 赵乐际 (Politburo member since 2012, secretary of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, former Head of the CPC Organization Department)
195. Zhao Long 赵龙 (Governor of Fujian)
196. Zhao Xiaozhe 赵晓哲 (Vice Admiral of PLA and Director of Science and Technology Committee of the Central Military Commission)
197. Zhao Yide 赵一德 (Governor of Shaanxi, former Governor/Deputy Secretary of Hebei)
198. Zheng Shanjie 郑栅洁 (Governor/Deputy Party Secretary of Zhejiang and Party Secretary of Ningbo)
199. Zheng Xincong 郑新聪 (Director of Liaison Office in Macau, former Deputy Governor Fujian)
200. Zhong Shaojun 钟绍军 (aide of Xi Jinping, Director of the General Office of the Central Military Commission of People’s Liberation Army)
201. Zhou Naixiang 周乃翔 (Governor of Shandong)
202. Zhou Qiang 周强 (Chief Justice and President of the Supreme People’s Court of China)
203. Zhou Zuyi 周祖翼 (Minister of Human Resources and Social Security)
204. Zhuang Rongwen 庄荣文 (Director of the Cyberspace Administration of China)
205. Zou Jiayi 邹加怡 (female) (Vice Minister of the Ministry of Finance)
20th Politburo Members
Noteworthy:
– For the first time in 25 years, there are no female members in this list.
1. Cai Qi 蔡奇 (New Politburo Standing Committee member, Party Secretary of Beijing)
2. Chen Jining 陈吉宁 (New Politburo member, Deputy Party Secretary and mayor of Beijing)
3. Chen Min’er 陈敏尔 (18th-20th Politburo member and party chief of Chongqing)
4. Chen Wenqing 陈文清 (New Politburo member, Ministry of State Security Minister&Party Secretary)
5. Ding Xuexiang 丁薛祥 (New Politburo Standing Committee member, a senior aide to Xi Jinping)
6. He Lifeng 何立峰 (New Politburo member, head of the National Development and Reform Commission)
7. He Weidong 何卫东 (New Politburo member, Commander of the CMC’s Joint Command Centre)
8. Huang Kunming 黄坤明 (19th/20th Politburo member, head of the CPC Publicity Department)
9. Li Ganjie 李干杰 (New Politburo member, Party Secretary of Shandong)
10. Li Hongzhong 李鸿忠 (also 19th/20th Politburo member, Tianjin Party Secretary)
11. Li Qiang 李强 (New Politburo Standing Committee member, 19th/20th Politburo member and Party Secretary of Shanghai)
12. Li Shulei 李书磊 (New Politburo member, Executive Deputy Head of the Publicity Department)
13. Li Xi 李希 (New Politburo Standing Committee member, 19th/20th Politburo member and Party Secretary of Guangdong, Secretary of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection)
14. Liu Guozhong 刘国中 (New Politburo Member, Party Secretary of Shaanxi)
15. Ma Xingrui 马兴瑞 (New Politburo member, Xinjiang Party Secretary, former Guangdong governor)
16. Shi Taifeng 石泰峰 (New Politburo member, President of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences)
17. Wang Huning 王沪宁 (Politburo Standing Committee since 2017, 19th/20th Politburo member, First Secretary of the Secretariat of the Chinese Communist Party)
18. Wang Yi 王毅 (New Politburo member, State Councillor and Foreign Minister)
19. Xi Jinping 习近平 (General Secretary of the Party, President PRC, Chairman of the Central Military Commission)
20. Yin Li 尹力 (New Politburo member, Party Secretary of Fujian)
21. Yuan Jiajun 袁家军 (New Politburo member, Zhejiang Party Secretary)
22. Zhang Guoqing 张国清 (New Politburo member, Party Secretary of Liaoning)
23. Zhang Youxia 张又侠 (19th/20th Politburo member, General in the PLA, second-ranked Vice Chairman of the Central Military Commission)
24. Zhao Leji 赵乐际 (Politburo member since 2012, secretary of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, former Head of the CPC Organization Department)
20th Politburo Standing Committee
Noteworthy:
– Four of the members are new to the Standing Committee.
– Li Keqiang, Wang Yang, Wang Qishan, and Li Zhanshu are gone from the Standing Committee.
– No female members – there never have been in the Standing Committee.
1. Cai Qi 蔡奇 (New Politburo Standing Committee member, Party Secretary of Beijing)
2. Ding Xuexiang 丁薛祥 (New Politburo Standing Committee member, a senior aide to Xi Jinping)
3. Li Qiang 李强 (New Politburo Standing Committee member, 19th/20th Politburo member and Party Secretary of Shanghai)
4. Li Xi 李希 (New Politburo Standing Committee member, 19th/20th Politburo member and Party Secretary of Guangdong, Secretary of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection)
5. Xi Jinping 习近平 (General Secretary of the Party, President PRC, Chairman of the Central Military Commission)
6. Wang Huning 王沪宁 (Politburo Standing Committee since 2017, 19th/20th Politburo member, First Secretary of the Secretariat of the Chinese Communist Party)
7. Zhao Leji 赵乐际 (Politburo member since 2012, secretary of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, former Head of the CPC Organization Department)
For more about the Party Congress, check our other articles here.
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By Manya Koetse
Sources (other sources linked to inside text)
Reuters. 2022. “Factbox: China’s new elite Communist Party leadership.” Reuters, Oct 23 https://www.reuters.com/world/china/chinas-new-elite-communist-party-leadership-2022-10-23/ [Oct 23 2022].
Sullivan, Lawrence R. 2012. Historical Dictionary of the Chinese Communist Party. Lanham: The Scarecrow Press. See page: 3-43, 208.
Saich, Tony. 2004. Governance and Politics of China. Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan. See page: 97.
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Manya Koetse is the founder and editor-in-chief of whatsonweibo.com. She is a writer, public speaker, and researcher (Sinologist, MPhil) on social trends, digital developments, and new media in an ever-changing China, with a focus on Chinese society, pop culture, and gender issues. She shares her love for hotpot on hotpotambassador.com. Contact at manya@whatsonweibo.com, or follow on Twitter.
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19 hours agoon
March 31, 2023As a video of him crying out and begging for water went super viral on March 29, Ningxia land owner Sun Guoyou suddenly became a public figure. But while Chinese netizens initially sympathized with the local landowner whose water was cut off by a big coal mine, he is now increasingly seen as a businessman who used social media to exploit his situation.
This week, the story of Ningxia land owner Sun Guoyou (孙国友) went completely viral on Chinese social media.
Various Chinese media outlets, from Sina News to Beijing News and The Paper all covered the story of the old man who was seeing his enormous land destroyed because a nearby coal mine had cut off water supplies. Although they had allegedly promised Guo to resume water supplies on March 27, they did not follow through.
A video of Sun kneeling on the ground and begging for water went viral on Douyin and Weibo, where dozens of hashtags relating to the story received millions of views (read our earlier story here).
One crucial aspect of the story is how Sun Guoyou allegedly has been combating desertification and improving the soil conditions of the barren land through afforestation, by planting trees and irrigating the land.
This is one of the various reasons why netizens initially felt sorry for Sun and wanted to help him out. People were rooting for the underdog, supporting the seemingly weaker Sun against the more powerful coal mine company and local authorities.
He was also called the ‘modern-day Yugong’ by some, referring to the old Chinese fable about an old man who was called foolish for persistently trying to move a mountain, yet finally succeeded in doing so. The Chinese idiom about “the foolish old man moving a mountain” (愚公移山 yúgōng yíshān) is often used as a figure of speech for persisting despite hardship.
But the more viral Sun’s story went since March 29, the more people started doubting his story and called into question whether Sun was genuinely an underdog or just a business owner exploiting his land and, through the help of social media, manipulating the circumstances to his benefit.
On March 30, Weibo knowledge blogger ‘PYGZ’ (@平原公子赵胜) was among many other netizens accusing Sun of planting the wrong species of trees and raising cattle and sheep on his land, causing more soil erosion instead of improving soil quality. Rather than controlling desertification (“治沙”), Sun’s practices are creating sand dunes (“造沙”) instead, the blogger argued.
Why would Sun do such a thing? According to PYGZ, the state subsidizes windbreak forests that help prevent desertification (“防沙林”): 500-800 yuan ($72-$116) per Chinese “mu” (亩), which is about 666 square meters / 0.165 acre. With a land as big as Sun’s, the annual subsidy would be millions of yuan (or more than $1M per year).
“This is what combating desertification in Ningxia actually looks like,” charity blogger Sui Jiao (@碎叫) wrote, sharing photos of desert control work: “If you are concerned about desertification control, you can donate money to the China Green Foundation (中国绿化基金会) to plant trees.”
Desert control work in Ningxia, image via Weibo @碎叫
Desert control work in Ningxia, image via Weibo @碎叫
Another thing that came up in critical discussions on Sun’s case is how he previously received over seven million yuan (more than $1M) in compensation from the Shenhua Ningxia Coal Industry Group (神华宁夏煤业集团) for economic losses caused by them occupying forest land (#孙国友此前727万判决书曝光#).
As more netizens are starting to dive deeper into the facts behind Sun’s desperate kneeling video, Sun’s family stated that they did not want to further escalate the issue and were just focused on saving their trees for now (#跪地求水林场主家属称不想事情升级#).
The nationalist Weibo blogger Ziwuxiashi (@子午侠士), who has over one million followers, posted an image of a wolf sneaking away, writing: “They want to get away, but I’m afraid it’s too late, the [wolf’s ] tail has already been exposed.” The blogger suggested that the Sun family might have enjoyed the spotlight, but do not want people to dig deeper.
Many others agreed, suggesting that Sun and his family staged the dramatic video to draw attention to their case, but now want to retreat before more details come out showing that Sun might not be the underdog he made himself out to be.
“Netizens are not like toilet paper that you can wipe your ass with and get rid of once no longer needed,” one Weibo user wrote.
Chinese political commentator Hu Xijin (@胡锡进) also commented on the issue – as he does whenever social stories go viral like this, – and wrote that he understood why netizens would doubt Guo’s sincerity or even say the entire video was staged.
At the same time, he reminded people that issues such as these are never black and white, arguing it is understandable that Guo earns income from his land and that it would only be right for the coal mine company to supply water to Guo if that is what they legally agreed on.
Hu suggested that, while many details in this story still have not come out, netizens might want to wait to make an absolute judgment in the case since issues such as these are usually not clear-cut and can be more complex than they initially seem.
More updates will follow.
By Manya Koetse
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China Insight
Pregnancy Discrimination in the Workplace: Three Major Problems Faced by Chinese Female Workers
Weibo discussions about a woman from Wuhan who was fired after sharing news of her pregnancy for “inability” to do her job.
Published
2 weeks agoon
March 21, 2023By
Zilan QianWorkplace pregnancy and maternity discrimination is a deep-rooted problem that has recently triggered online discussions in China, where netizens highlight common ways in which companies still try to avoid dealing with pregnant workers.
The official Weibo account of Legal Daily (法治日报), a Chinese state-owned newspaper, recently launched a social media hashtag about employers not being allowed to terminate female employees because they are pregnant (#不得因怀孕辞退女职工#).
Legal Daily reported that a female employee in Wuhan was fired from her job due to her pregnancy earlier this year (#武汉一女子怀孕后遭公司辞退#). After returning to work after the Spring Festival break, the woman informed the company about her pregnancy. In early February, the company asked her to accept a demotion and salary reduction, which she declined. Later that month, she received a termination letter from the company, stating that the employee was being terminated due to her “inability to do her job.”
A screenshot of a video posted on Weibo reporting the news about the female Wuhan employee terminated from her job because of her pregnancy. In the video, the woman disagreed with the company’s statement that she could not perform her duties.
Legal Daily‘s Weibo account cited Article 5 of the “Special Provisions on Labor Protection for Female Employees,” which prohibits employers from reducing the wages of female employees or terminating their employment contract due to them being pregnant, giving birth, or breastfeeding. It also stipulates a basic maternity leave of 98 days.
The female employee in question is currently suing the company for terminating her job. While this case may have a positive outcome, the issue of workplace discrimination against female employees due to pregnancy is more complicated than it appears, regardless of the Chinese laws designed to protect female workers.
Despite legal prohibitions against pregnancy discrimination in employment, some employers still circumvent the rules in various ways and in doing so, continue to engage in discrimination against female workers. This topic has recently also generated discussions on Chinese social media about the problems women face in the workplace.
Problem #1: Companies Not Hiring Female Workers At All
“It [the law] is not very useful,” one Weibo user wrote under the related hashtag: “Companies do not usually fire female workers who are pregnant. They will solve the problem from the beginning by not hiring female workers at all.”
Some smaller private companies do not want to take the risk of dealing with potentially prolonged maternity leave and pregnant workers that they cannot fire nor reduce their wages.
They also fear that workers who are pregnant or are taking care of young children will have reduced energy and might face challenges in the workplace. To avoid the presumed risk that comes with hiring a female worker, Weibo commenters discuss how many companies would “rather hire men directly” to evade the issue of dealing with pregnant workers altogether.
Weibo users commenting that small companies would rather hire men than afford the potential cost of female workers’ maternity leave.
Some voices note how female job-seekers are facing gender discrimination in hiring, regardless of their marital status or the number of children they have.
Another post under the same hashtag (#不得因怀孕辞退女职工#) mentioned:
“It is so hard for females to find jobs. [From the company’s perspective:] 1. Unmarried female: they’re here for the marriage leave; 2. Married but no children yet: they’re here for the pregnancy leave; 3. Married and have one child: here to have their second child (and the maternity leave); 4. Married and have two children: here to have their third child (and the maternity leave); 5. Married and have three children: they have no time for work because need to take care of the family; 6. Do not want to marry: they are having problematic thoughts [思想有问题].”
Problem #2: Going to Extremes to Avoid Paying for Maternity Leave
Despite Chinse labor law prohibiting companies from reducing wages or terminating the contracts of pregnant employees, some companies still attempt to circumvent paying for maternity leave through various means, as was the case with the Wuhan company.
One extreme way to avoid dealing with maternity leave pay is to cancel the company’s registration altogether, which is also called “dying together” (“同归于尽”, also: “to perish together with one’s foe”).
A recent news story about a boss who canceled his company’s registration overnight due to a female employee’s pregnancy received widespread attention on the internet.
According to a March 5 report by Netease (网易), the woman informed her boss that she was three months pregnant right after signing her work contract. The boss was so afraid of the potential costs for maternity leave pay and other benefits that he decided to immediately cancel the company’s registration.
While the boss claimed that the cancellation was due to the fact that the company was operating at a loss for the past two years, he reportedly spoke with each employee and compensated them accordingly. However, the pregnant female employee in question refused to leave. After the cancellation, the boss formed a new company including all the former employees – except for the pregnant one.
While some netizens expressed concerns over the extreme actions of the company, others also blamed the woman for “blackmailing” the company into supporting her pregnancy and childbirth. Additionally, many netizens argued that the woman’s actions also make it more difficult for other job-seeking females to find employment, especially with small companies that may become more cautious about hiring female workers.
Problem #3: Maternity Harassment on the Workfloor
“Dying together” is not the only way for companies to get rid of “troublesome” pregnant workers. There are many other low-cost ways to avoid dealing with pregnant employees and working mothers, such as making life in the workplace so difficult for them that they will voluntarily resign.
In Chinese, this kind of ‘maternity harassment’ is also called “chuān xiǎo xié” (穿小鞋), which literally means giving someone tight shoes to wear and making them uncomfortable. The phenomenon is also widespread in Japan, where the word ‘matahara‘ was coined as an abbreviated form of the words ‘maternity’ and ‘harassment’ to describe the unfair treatment of pregnant women and young mothers in the workforce.
Image showing Chinese comedian Papi Jiang talking about women in the workplace being afraid to get pregnant as it might cost them their career.
By pushing employees to resign voluntarily, the company not only saves on the costs of female workers’ maternity leave pay but also avoids paying for a severance package.
Under the report by Jingshi Live-Streaming (经视直播) about the woman in Wuhan who was fired from her job due to her pregnancy, one Weibo user commented that many companies fire female workers who are pregnant, but they usually do not state it upfront and instead secretly force them to leave.
This comment received over 1500 likes, with many sharing their own similar experiences. One person wrote: “I was in that situation. The company explicitly persuaded me to resign and covertly marginalized me.”
Weibo users sharing their experiences of being forced to “voluntarily resign.”
Another person shared: “After I announced my pregnancy, my year-end bonus was reduced by more than half, and my colleagues immediately treated me with coldness.” One woman mentioned that “companies overtly use polite language while covertly giving the lowest performance evaluation to force employees to resign.”
One Weibo user complained about how female workers first face nagging questions about their future plans to have children, then face criticism from employees and colleagues after announcing their pregnancy and then have to worry about getting fired or seeing their salary reduced after giving birth.
No Way Out?
Despite laws and regulations requiring companies to provide maternity leave for female employees, there are still loopholes that are used by businesses to avoid responsibility. This leaves women in a vulnerable position in the workplace and limits economic opportunities. Weibo users come up with several suggestions in recent online discussions on how to solve the problems female workers face.
Some suggest that women should “just be realistic” and settle for a second-best option (“退而求其次”). One Weibo post argued that since it is difficult for women to secure permanent positions in both government institutions and big private companies, they should consider becoming temporary workers in government departments as a secondary option.
Others disagreed with this hot take, stating that the average wages and benefits for temporary workers in government departments are not enough to make a living.
Another suggestion raised to combat pregnancy discrimination is to offer equal parental leave to both men and women. However, this proposal was also met with resistance from some who argued that it does not solve anything since fathers have the option to forgo paternity leave, but women do not have that choice. They also cited examples of male colleagues who voluntarily waived their 15-day paternity leave.
Some are skeptical about finding a solution to the problem of women facing pregnancy discrimination in the workplace, and also raise the issue of this problem decreasing women’s willingness to have babies at all. Some netizens jokingly comment: “Do women need to provide their certificate of sterilization from the hospitals?” or “I suggest females just remove the uterus [as a solution].”
Facing low fertility rates and a large aging population, boosting birthrates is a priority for Chinese authorities. While Chinese experts look for ways to motivate couples to have (more) children at an earlier age, combating pregnancy discrimination in the workplace is also more important than ever.
One Weibo user bitterly joked about the apparent contradiction of boosting national birth rates while also promoting equal positions in the workplace:
“Women say: “If I get pregnant, I will face workplace discrimination.”
The government says: “How dare companies discriminate against women? I will fine them.”
Companies say: “You’re good at playing tricks. I won’t hire women anymore.”
Women say: “If I have a child, I can’t even find a job. I won’t have children in the future.”
Society says: “China is getting old before it gets rich. What should we do?”
The media says: “There is news every day. It’s great!”
By Zilan Qian
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◼︎ 同归于尽 Tóng guī yú jìn
Dying together; suffering a downfall together; perishing together with one’s foe
◼︎ 穿小鞋 Chuān xiǎo xié
Giving someone tight shoes to wear; making things hard for someone by abusing one’s power
◼︎ 退而求其次 Tuì ér qíu qí cì
To settle for the second best thing
Images in featured image:
http://www.xinqtech.com/startup/201806/291055.html
https://www.maxlaw.cn/n/20220316/10379852097730.shtml
https://www.maxlaw.cn/n/20180823/923419931554.shtml
https://www.sohu.com/a/325722786_120156585
http://k.sina.com.cn/article_2090512390_7c9ab00602000n007.html
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