Hu Chunhua | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
胡春华 | |||||||
_2.jpg) Hu in 2019 | |||||||
| Vice Chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference | |||||||
| Assumed office 10 March 2023 | |||||||
| Chairman | Wang Huning | ||||||
| Vice Premier of China | |||||||
| In office 19 March 2018 – 12 March 2023 | |||||||
| Premier | Li Keqiang | ||||||
| Party Secretary of Guangdong | |||||||
| In office 18 December 2012 – 28 October 2017 | |||||||
| Deputy | Zhu Xiaodan (Governor) Ma Xingrui (Governor) | ||||||
| General secretary | Xi Jinping | ||||||
| Preceded by | Wang Yang | ||||||
| Succeeded by | Li Xi | ||||||
| Party Secretary of Inner Mongolia | |||||||
| In office 30 November 2009 – 18 December 2012 | |||||||
| Deputy | Bagatur (Government Chairman) | ||||||
| General secretary | Hu Jintao | ||||||
| Preceded by | Chu Bo | ||||||
| Succeeded by | Wang Jun | ||||||
| Governor of Hebei | |||||||
| In office 15 April 2008 – 15 December 2009 | |||||||
| Preceded by | Guo Gengmao | ||||||
| Succeeded by | Chen Quanguo | ||||||
| First Secretary of the Communist Youth League of China | |||||||
| In office November 2006 – April 2008 | |||||||
| Preceded by | Zhou Qiang | ||||||
| Succeeded by | Lu Hao | ||||||
| Personal details | |||||||
| Born | (1963-04-23)April 23, 1963 (age 61) Wufeng County,Hubei, China | ||||||
| Political party | Chinese Communist Party (1983–present) | ||||||
| Alma mater | Peking University | ||||||
| Chinese name | |||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 胡春华 | ||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 胡春華 | ||||||
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Hu Chunhua (Chinese:胡春华; born April 1963) is a Chinese politician. He currently serves as avice chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference since 2023. From 2018 to 2023, he served asvice premier of China.
Born inYichang,Hubei, Hu first entered politics by working as a cadre of theCommunist Youth League in theTibet Autonomous Region. After serving various roles in Tibet, he rose through the ranks of the Communist Youth League, eventually returning to Beijing and becoming itsfirst secretary in 2006. In 2008, he was appointed the governor ofHebei. He was reassigned to the post ofChinese Communist Party (CCP)committee secretary of Inner Mongolia in 2009, a post he held until 2012.
In 2012, he became the CCP secretary of Guangdong, as well as a member of theCCP Politburo. During his time in Guangdong lasting until 2017, Hu launched anti-corruption campaigns and earned reputation as a low-key leader. Hu became avice premier of China in 2018, a post he served until 2023. He left the Politburo in 2022, after the20th CCP National Congress, though he kept his membership to theCCP Central Committee. In March 2023, he became a vice chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference. Hu is popularly known as "Heir apparent ofTuanpai" due to the similarities of his career with that of formerCCP general secretaryHu Jintao andLi Keqiang.
Hu was born into a family of farmers inWufeng County,Yichang,Hubei province on 1 April 1963. In 1979, he ranked first in the county for theGaokao examination. At age 16, he was the youngest in his class.[1] In 1983, he joined theChinese Communist Party (CCP). He received a bachelor’s degree in Chinese literature fromPeking University in August 1983.[2] AtPeking University he was friends withLi Keqiang, who was also attending Peking University at the time.[citation needed] Hu later entered theCentral Party School in 1996, graduating via part-time studies with a master’s degree in world economics 1999. He also took cadre training programs from the Central Party School from 1996 to 1997 and in 2000.[2]
After graduation, he went to work in Tibet, starting as a cadre in the Organization Department of theCCP Tibet Autonomous Regional Committee in 1983. He became an official at theTibet Youth Daily in 1984, and an official at theTibet Hotel in 1985. In 1987, Hu became the deputy secretary of theCommunist Youth League of China (CYCL) Committee in Tibet, later serving as its secretary from 1992 to 1995. He worked as a deputy head of theLinzhi Prefecture in 1992, and as deputy party secretary and head ofShannan Prefecture in from 1995 to 1997.[2]
From 1997 to 2001 Hu served in the Secretariat of the Communist Youth League and as a Vice Chairman of theAll-China Youth Federation. In July 2001, Hu returned to Tibet, becoming the secretary-general of the CCP Tibet Committee. Hu served asdeputy secretary of the CCP Tibet Committee from November 2003 to November 2006 and vice chairman of the Tibet Autonomous Regional Government from November 2003 to November 2005.[2] In Tibet, Hu played an instrumental role in developing the Tibetan economy, curbing the independence movement, and the settlement of more Han Chinese into region.[3]
Hu returned to Beijing to become theFirst Secretary of the Communist Youth League from December 2006 to March 2008. At the17th Party Congress in October 2007, Hu Chunhua became a member of theCCP Central Committee. On April 15, 2008, he was appointed the actingGovernor of Hebei, China's youngest.[4] On January 12, 2009, he was officially elected Governor.[5][6] In Hebei, Hu had the reputation of working 'non-stop', visiting all of the province's 11 prefecture-level cities within a few months.[1] While serving in Hebei, Hu came into the limelight during the2008 Chinese milk scandal, which had roots in Hebei province. He came out of the incident unscathed, some say as a result of his closeness to CCP general secretaryHu Jintao.[3] He also took part in the security preparations of the2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, and advocated increasing domesticconsumption in response to the global2007–2008 financial crisis.[1]
In November 2009, he was appointed Regional Party Secretary ofInner Mongolia.[7] He was also elected Chairman of the Inner Mongolia People's Congress in January 2010.[7] Not long after he took charge of the vast northern region, Hu embarked on a plan to rebalance growth in the region. Under Hu's predecessorChu Bo, Inner Mongolia saw explosive GDP growth that was the result of developing natural resources. The region's GDP growth ranked highest amongst province-level entities in the country for eight consecutive years. However, the growth opened a largewealth gap, with endemic profiteering from local officials, and a divide between the resource-rich western part of the region (Hohhot,Baotou, andOrdos) and the stagnant industrial-based eastern part (Chifeng,Tongliao,Hulunbuir).
In response, Hu remarked that Inner Mongolia will no longer aspire to be ranked first in GDP growth, but rather focus on sustaining the "quality" and "efficiency" of growth.[8] Hu believed that dogmatically pursuing a mere increase in economic output did not benefit everyone in the region, particularly farmers and nomadic herders, pointing out that the large mining projects had brought significant wealth which did not trickle down to the grassroots. He stressed that one of the priorities of his administration would be assuring equitable policies in the relocation, employment and social welfare of nomadic peoples.[8] Hu also sought to reform tax policy to give more bargaining power to local government and local interests in assessing potential mining projects by large state-owned natural resource companies. These companies were known for running roughshod over local officials that were desperate to attract investment to boost their own GDP numbers.[8] In urban development, Hu stressed the importance of subsidized housing.[8]
Grievances over the intrusion of mining companies, mixed with ethnic tensions between Mongolian and Han Chinese people in the region, had caused friction for years between the government and the rural populations. It came to a boil in May 2011, when a Mongolian herder's death led toethnic Mongolian protests inXilinhot and unrest in other parts of the region. It was the first major protests in Inner Mongolia in more than twenty years. Hu instituted a two-pronged policy of appeasement and force, addressing the grievances of the protesting crowds by making a visit to Xilinhot, meeting with students and teachers, and promising compensation for local herders and more strict regulations over business conduct. Meanwhile, he increased security presence across Inner Mongolia, including in the capital,Hohhot, to contain the unrest.[9]
According toReuters in August 2012, Hu Jintao sought to promote Hu Chunhua to be a member of thePolitburo Standing Committee or theParty Secretary of Shanghai after the18th Party National Congress.[10] In November 2012, after the Party Congress, Hu was appointed to the18th Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party, a ruling council of China's top leaders.[11][12] He, along withSun Zhengcai, were the youngest members of the 18th politburo, raising speculation that they were being groomed to become China's next leaders in 2022.[13] In December 2012, Hu was appointed Party Secretary of Guangdong, succeedingWang Yang, who went on to become Vice-Premier in Beijing.[14] The Guangdongleadership post has historically been filled by those who have gone on to join the national leadership, such asZhao Ziyang,Xi Zhongxun,Li Changchun,Zhang Dejiang, andWang Yang. It is widely regarded to be one of China's most important regional offices.
In Guangdong, Hu earned a reputation for being low-key, action-oriented leader who is not fond of bureaucracy or formalities. Almost immediately after his assuming the reins in Guangdong, Hu's government began a sweeping crackdown on so-calledluoguan, i.e., officials who work in China but whose spouses and children live abroad. Since the beginning of Hu's term, over 800luoguan have been disciplined, demoted, or otherwise removed from office. Hu's government also cracked down on drug trafficking and the sex industry in theDongguan area, dispatching police to conduct massive raids of the city's prostitution venues, and removing the city's vice mayor and police chief from office.[15]
Hu's government also began experimenting with the public release of information on the assets of local officials, and have moved to codify anti-corruption measures into law with the provincial legislature.[16] In October 2014, Hu's government began a series of public consultations on new anti-corruption regulations. Taking best practices from theIndependent Commission Against Corruption in Hong Kong, Hu's government experimented with – in select local areas – merging the traditionally separate departments of Discipline Inspection, Supervision, Anti-Corruption, and Audit into a single agency in charge of combating graft.[15] During's Hu's term, theParty Committee Secretary of the provincial capital Guangzhou,Wan Qingliang, was investigated for corruption and removed from office.
In March 2018, he was elected by theNational People's Congress to serve as avice premier of China in PremierLi Keqiang'sCabinet. As vice premier, Hu played an important role in thetargeted poverty alleviation campaign, agricultural modernization, and theBelt and Road Initiative.[2]
After the20th CCP National Congress in 2022, Hu left the Politburo, though he remained a Central Committee member.[17] In March 2023, he left the office as vice premier and was instead elected asvice chairman of theChinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC).[18] He was named as one of two deputy party secretaries of the CPPCC in the same month.[19]
Hu has maintained a relatively low public profile during his rise to positions of power. Hu is known for his low-key style in public, and does not discuss his private life. During the2012 National People's Congress, Hu Chunhua only answered four out of twenty questions posed to him by reporters, casting many sensitive questions to his subordinates. When asked personal questions, he said that he was only interested in matters relating to Inner Mongolia. He refused to comment on his personal ambitions, or whether or not he had aWeibo account.[20] Following the dismissal ofBo Xilai in April 2012, Hu was heavily promoted due to his loyalty to central party authorities under Hu Jintao'sleadership.[20] He toed the party line and is seen as a close confidant and loyalist ofHu Jintao.[20]
AfterXi Jinping assumedGeneral Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party in 2012, Hu continued to play a prominent role politically - his record in Guangdong impressed the central authorities and was praised by Xi personally. There was wide speculation that Hu would advance directly to theCCP Politburo Standing Committee in 2017 and be groomed as a putative successor to the top leadership, but this ultimately did not occur. However, Hu was selected to become Vice-Premier in 2018, continuing to be the youngest leader among the senior-most ranks of the party.[3][21] It was again speculated that Hu might join the Standing Committee in 2022,[22] but instead he was demoted from the Politburo.[17]
His political beliefs about Tibet are fairly opaque. He is able to hold simple conversations inTibetan as he had worked there as a regional official.[3]
Hu married his wife in Tibet. They have one daughter.[2]
| Party political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | First Secretary of the Communist Youth League of China 2006–2008 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Party Secretary of Inner Mongolia 2009–2012 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Party Secretary of Guangdong 2012–2017 | Succeeded by |
| Government offices | ||
| Preceded by | Governor of Hebei 2008–2009 | Succeeded by |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
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