Sun Chunlan | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
孙春兰 | |||||||||
.jpg) Sun in 2021 | |||||||||
| Vice Premier of China | |||||||||
| In office 19 March 2018 – 11 March 2023 | |||||||||
| Premier | Li Keqiang | ||||||||
| Head of the United Front Work Department | |||||||||
| In office 31 December 2014 – 7 November 2017 | |||||||||
| Deputy | Wang Zhengwei Zhang Yijiong (executive) | ||||||||
| General secretary | Xi Jinping | ||||||||
| Preceded by | Ling Jihua | ||||||||
| Succeeded by | You Quan | ||||||||
| Party Secretary of Tianjin | |||||||||
| In office 21 November 2012 – 30 December 2014 | |||||||||
| Preceded by | Zhang Gaoli | ||||||||
| Succeeded by | Huang Xingguo (acting) | ||||||||
| Party Secretary of Fujian | |||||||||
| In office 30 November 2009 – 21 November 2012 | |||||||||
| Preceded by | Lu Zhangong | ||||||||
| Succeeded by | You Quan | ||||||||
| Party Secretary ofDalian | |||||||||
| In office 2001–2005 | |||||||||
| Preceded by | Bo Xilai | ||||||||
| Succeeded by | Zhang Chengyin | ||||||||
| Personal details | |||||||||
| Born | (1950-05-24)24 May 1950 (age 75) | ||||||||
| Party | Chinese Communist Party (1973–present) | ||||||||
| Alma mater | Anshan Industrial Technology College | ||||||||
| Occupation | Politician | ||||||||
| Chinese name | |||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 孙春兰 | ||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 孫春蘭 | ||||||||
| Literal meaning | Sun (surname)Spring-Orchidaceae | ||||||||
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Sun Chunlan (Chinese:孙春兰; born 24 May 1950) is a retired Chinese politician. She served as the second-rankedVice Premier of China and thehighest-ranking incumbent female government official until March 2023. Previously, she served as a member of thePolitburo of the Chinese Communist Party.
Sun served as the party chief of the coastal city ofDalian and as the First Secretary ofAll-China Federation of Trade Unions. From 2009 to 2014, Sun served in two prominent regional posts, first as theChinese Communist Party Committee Secretary ofFujian province, then ofTianjin, one of China's fourdirect-controlled municipalities. Her tenure in Fujian made her the second female provincial-level party chief since the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949 (the first wasWan Shaofen). Between 2014 and 2017, she served ashead of the United Front Work Department of theCentral Committee of the Chinese Communist Party.
Sun was born on 24 May 1950 inRaoyang County,Hebei. She enrolled in the Anshan Industrial Technology Academy inLiaoning in 1965. After graduating with a degree in mechanics in 1969, Sun worked at Anshan Clock Factory, which made watches.[1] There she rose from the shop floor to membership of the factory's CCP branch in 1971,[2] which managed the operations of the factory. She joined the Chinese Communist Party in May 1973, during the latter stages of the Cultural Revolution. In 1974, she became theCommunist Youth League secretary of the Light Industry Bureau of Anshan City. She was then transferred to the Anshan Textiles Factory to work as a manager in 1977, working there until 1988. In 1988 she became the chair of the women's federation ofAnshan, working there until 1991.[3]
In 1990, Sun was transferred to work in the organs reporting directly to the provincial party leadership, paving the way for further career advancement. She became the deputy head of the Workers' Union of Liaoning in 1991, and the head of the Women's Association of Liaoning in 1993. In 1994 she became head of the Workers' Union of Liaoning, the provincial trade union federation, a year later she began sitting on the Liaoningprovincial Party Standing Committee; achieving such a feat at age 45 was rare. In 1997, Sun was named deputy party secretary of Liaoning and president of the provincial party school.[3]
In 2001, the party secretary of the bustling coastal city ofDalian departed the city to become the governor of Liaoning. Sun was then confirmed as party secretary of Dalian with party committee members unanimously confirming her nomination. She served in the post from 2001 to 2005, before being transferred to work in Beijing.[3] Sun was named the Vice Chair of theAll-China Federation of Trade Unions (ACFTU) at the Third Session of the 14th ACFTU Executive Committee, and then the First Secretary of the ACFTU Secretariat at the Eighth Session of the 14th ACFTU Presidium In December 2005.[citation needed]
In a December 2009 re-shuffle, Sun Chunlan was named party secretary of Fujian Province,[4] the first female to take such a high-level secretaryship sinceWan Shaofen, Party Secretary ofJiangxi in the 1980s. Provincial party chief positions are of special significance and are some of the most powerful positions of the land; that Sun assumed abona fide "power position" was not only rare for a woman, but also made her well positioned for further advancement.[5]
After the18th Party Congress held in November 2012, Sun became the party secretary ofTianjin municipality, China's richest provincial-level jurisdiction by GDP at the time, taking the post vacated byZhang Gaoli, who became a member of thePolitburo Standing Committee. As Party Secretary of Tianjin, Sun joined the elite ranks of thePolitburo of the Chinese Communist Party as one of the two women on the body (the other was Vice-PremierLiu Yandong). She additionally became the first female party chief of a direct-controlled municipality in party history.[citation needed]
After the investigation and dismissal of formerHu Jintao aideLing Jihua ashead of the United Front Work Department, Sun was named as head of the department on December 31, 2014. Sun was the first United Front chief to hold a concurrent Politburo seat sinceDing Guangen. Her post in Tianjin was succeeded on an interim basis by MayorHuang Xingguo. Since Sun ascended to the United Front chief position, Xi Jinping has taken on a newdatongzhan (大统战) strategy for United Front work, expanding the scope of the United Front Work Department. In 2015,Wang Zhengwei, Vice-Chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, was named deputy head of the department, assisting Sun, creating a unique situation where two of the top leaders of the United Front were held by "deputy national leader" ranked figures.[6]
Sun is a member of the19th Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party. She was also an alternate of the15th and16thCentral Committees of the Chinese Communist Party, and a full member of the17th,18th and19th Central Committees.[citation needed]
In October 2017, after the19th Party Congress, Sun was reappointed as a member of the Politburo. In March 2018, Sun was appointed as theVice Premier of China.[7]
She was awarded theGold Olympic Order after the2022 Winter Olympics for her responsibility for the anti-COVID management of the Olympic Winter Games.[8] According toThe New York Times, Sun Chunlan become a target of Chinese netizens expressing their anger towards theZero-COVID policy.[9]
Sun Chunlan retired from Politburo after20th Party Congress, and as Vice Premier in March 2023.[citation needed]
On 9 November 2023, Sun Chunlan became the president of the International Confucian Association.[10]
Quotations related toSun Chunlan at Wikiquote| Party political offices | ||
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| Preceded by | Head of the United Front Work Department 2014–2017 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Party Secretary of Tianjin Municipality 2012–2014 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Party Secretary of Fujian Province 2009–2012 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Party Secretary ofDalian City 2001–2005 | Succeeded by |
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