Li Shulei (; born 21 January 1964) is a Chinese politician who is the current head of the Publicity Department of the

Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party The Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, officially the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, is the Central committee, highest organ when the National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party, national congress is not ...

and a member of the

Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party The Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party, officially the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, is the executive committee of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party. Currently, the bureau i ...

. Li spent most of his career in academia, before being dispatched for a short stint as head of the propaganda department in Fujian, then as head of discipline inspection in Beijing. Li also served as the executive vice president of the

Central Party School The Central Party School is a higher education institution that trains Chinese Communist Party (CCP) cadres. It is located in Haidian, Beijing, close to Summer Palace and Old Summer Palace. The current president is Chen Xi, a former member o ...

(ministerial level position) and the deputy executive head of the Publicity Department. He is an important advisor to

CCP general secretary The general secretary of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party ( zh, s=中国共产党中央委员会总书记, p=Zhōngguó Gòngchǎndǎng Zhōngyāng Wěiyuánhuì Zǒngshūjì) is the leader of the Chinese Communist Party ...

and

paramount leader Paramount leader () is an informal term for the most important Supreme leader, political figure in the China, People's Republic of China (PRC). The paramount leader typically controls the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the People's Liberatio ...

Xi Jinping Xi Jinping, pronounced (born 15 June 1953) is a Chinese politician who has been the general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and Chairman of the Central Military Commission (China), chairman of the Central Military Commission ...

Early life and education

Li was born in Yuanyang County,

Henan Henan; alternatively Honan is a province in Central China. Henan is home to many heritage sites, including Yinxu, the ruins of the final capital of the Shang dynasty () and the Shaolin Temple. Four of the historical capitals of China, Lu ...

province. He entered

Peking University Peking University (PKU) is a Public university, public Types of universities and colleges in China#By designated academic emphasis, university in Haidian, Beijing, China. It is affiliated with and funded by the Ministry of Education of the Peop ...

in 1978 at the age of 14, studying library sciences. By the time he was 21, he already held a master's degree from Peking University. By age 24, Li earned a doctorate in modern Chinese literature from Peking University.

Career

In December 1989, he was transferred to work in the Central Party School of the Chinese Communist Party. By 1995, Li was named a professor at the party school. He taught literary history. During his tenure as a professor, he wrote essays and critiques on ancient and modern Chinese literature. Between 2001 and 2008, he served on the governing board of the school, serving as the director of the Literary History, Training, and Education Affairs departments. During this time, he served in two ''guazhi'' positions, as the deputy party secretary of

Qinglong Manchu Autonomous County Qinglong Manchu Autonomous County (, Manchu: ) is a Manchu autonomous county in northeastern Hebei province, China, bordering Liaoning Province to the north and east and located in the eastern part of the Yan Mountains. It is under the administ ...

, Hebei, and in 2004, as the deputy party secretary of

Xi'an Xi'an is the list of capitals in China, capital of the Chinese province of Shaanxi. A sub-provincial city on the Guanzhong plain, the city is the third-most populous city in Western China after Chongqing and Chengdu, as well as the most populou ...

. In December 2008, he was named vice president of the Central Party School, ascending to the vice-ministerial rank, and working directly under then-Central Party School president

. In January 2014, he was named a member of the provincial Party Standing Committee of Fujian, and the head of party propaganda in the province. This was his first provincial tenure. His rise in politics had been compared to that of

Wang Huning Wang Huning (; born 6 October 1955) is a Chinese politician who is one of the top leaders of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). He is currently the Chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, chairman of the National C ...

, another political heavyweight whose career originated in academia. Li supports party leader Xi's philosophy that "the party must guide the arts." In January 2016, Li was named Secretary of Discipline Inspection Commission of Beijing. In January 2017, Li was named

deputy secretary of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection The Deputy Secretary of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection () is the deputy to the Secretary of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) of the Chinese Communist Party The Communist Party of China (CPC), also tra ...

. Li is a member of the 18th and 19th CCP Central Commissions for Discipline Inspection. In 2020, he was appointed as the "vice president in charge of daily work" (ministerial level position) of the Central Party School (Chinese Academy of Governance). In April 2022, he became the executive deputy head of the

Publicity Department of the Chinese Communist Party The Publicity Department of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, also known as the Propaganda Department or Central Propaganda Department, is an internal division of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) ...

Head of the Publicity Department

After the 20th Party Congress in October 2022, Li became a member of the

CCP Politburo The Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party, officially the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, is the executive committee of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party. Currently, the bureau is ...

and was appointed as the head of the Publicity Department. In November 2022, he attended the

World Internet Conference The World Internet Conference (WIC; zh, s=世界互联网大会, labels=no), also known as the Wuzhen Summit ( zh, s=乌镇峰会, labels=no), is an annual event, first held in 2014, organized by the government of the People's Republic of China ...

, where he said the "current global internet management system still follows imperfect rules and an unreasonable order".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Li, Shulei Peking University alumni Academic staff of the Central Party School of the Chinese Communist Party 1964 births People's Republic of China politicians from Henan People from Xinxiang Members of the 20th Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party Living people Standing members of the Beijing Municipal Committee of the Chinese Communist Party Heads of the Publicity Department of the Chinese Communist Party Ministers of the Publicity Department of the Fujian Provincial Committee of the Chinese Communist Party