Liu Qibao (; born January 1953) is a Chinese politician. He was a member of the

18th Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party The 18th Central Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party () was elected by the 18th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) on 15 November 2012, which was formally elected by the 18th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Part ...

, a Secretary of the

Secretariat of the Chinese Communist Party The Central Secretariat of the Chinese Communist Party, officially the Secretariat of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, is a body serving the Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party and its Standing Committee. The secretariat is ...

, as well as the head of the Propaganda Department of the Central Committee. Previously Liu have served as the party chief of the

Guangxi Guangxi (; ; alternately romanized as Kwanghsi; ; za, Gvangjsih, italics=yes), officially the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region (GZAR), is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China, located in South China and bordering Vietnam ...

Zhuang Autonomous Region and

Sichuan Sichuan (; zh, c=, labels=no, ; zh, p=Sìchuān; alternatively romanized as Szechuan or Szechwan; formerly also referred to as "West China" or "Western China" by Protestant missions) is a province in Southwest China occupying most of t ...

province. He currently serves as one of the vice chairman of 13th Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.

Early life and education

Liu Qibao was born in a village near the banks of the

Yangtze River The Yangtze or Yangzi ( or ; ) is the longest river in Asia, the third-longest in the world, and the longest in the world to flow entirely within one country. It rises at Jari Hill in the Tanggula Mountains (Tibetan Plateau) and flows ...

in Susong County,

Anhui Province Anhui , (; formerly romanized as Anhwei) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, part of the East China region. Its provincial capital and largest city is Hefei. The province is located across the basins of the Yangtze River ...

in 1953, the second of four children. After graduating from high school Liu worked on a farm. Liu joined the Communist Party in December 1971 and next year joined its

Communist Youth League The Communist Youth League of China (CYLC), also known as the Young Communist League of China or simply the Communist Youth League (CYL), is a youth movement of the People's Republic of China for youth between the ages of 14 and 28, run by the ...

(CYL). He attended

Anhui Normal University Anhui Normal University () is an institution of higher learning in Wuhu, Anhui Province, China. Approved by the State Council in 1972, it was officially renamed Anhui Normal University, and the name was written by Guo Moruo. Anhui Normal Uni ...

as a " Worker-Peasant-Soldier student" where he was a student of history at the Department of History.

Career

After graduating in 1974, Liu Qibao was a cadre at the Theoretical Research Office of the Department of Publicity, CPC Anhui Provincial Committee. Following it, he eventually became secretary to

Wan Li Wan Li (1 December 1916 – 15 July 2015) was a Chinese Communist revolutionary and politician. During a long administrative career in the People's Republic of China, he served successively as Vice Premier, Chairman of the Standing Committee of ...

, then provincial Party Secretary of Anhui. In 1980, Wan Li was transferred to work for the central authorities in Beijing. Liu was sent to work for the CYL Anhui Provincial Committee, where he gained rapid career advancement. He led propaganda and ideology work at the CYL, eventually rising to lead the provincial CYL organization. In February 1984, he became mayor of

Suzhou, Anhui Suzhou () formerly romanized as Suchow is a prefecture-level city in northern Anhui province. It borders the prefectural cities of Huaibei and Bengbu to the southwest and south respectively, the provinces of Jiangsu to the east, Shandong to t ...

, a city with jurisdiction over some four million people, at only 31 years old. In November 1985, he was transferred to the CYL national organization, where he worked alongside future leaders Liu Yandong,

Li Keqiang Li Keqiang (born 1 July 1955) is a Chinese politician who is the outgoing premier of China. An economist by profession, Li is head of China's executive branch as well as one of the leading figures behind China's Financial and Economic Affa ...

, and

Li Yuanchao Li Yuanchao (born 20 November 1950) is a retired Chinese politician. He was the Vice President of the People's Republic of China from 2013 to 2018 and the Honorary President of the Red Cross Society of China. He was a member of the Secretaria ...

. Since then he has been identified by some observers as part of the "''

tuanpai The Tuanpai (), or Youth League Faction, is a term used by political observers and analysts to describe an informal political faction in the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), which includes cadres and government officials who originated from the Co ...

''", or "Youth League faction". Liu left the Youth League in 1993 to serve as the deputy chief editor of ''

People's Daily The ''People's Daily'' () is the official newspaper of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The newspaper provides direct information on the policies and viewpoints of the CCP. In addition to its main Chinese-language ...

'', then he worked under

Luo Gan Luo Gan (; born July 18, 1935) is a retired Chinese politician. Between 2002 and 2007, Luo was one of China's top leaders, serving as a member of the nine-man Politburo Standing Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, and as the Secretary of ...

and Wang Zhongyu as deputy Secretary-General of the State Council. Additionally he took on leading roles in the offices for the State Council task force on information technology, and the Central Commission for Spiritual Civilization. Liu served as the

Communist Party A communist party is a political party that seeks to realize the socio-economic goals of communism. The term ''communist party'' was popularized by the title of '' The Manifesto of the Communist Party'' (1848) by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engel ...

chief of

Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region Guangxi (; ; alternately romanized as Kwanghsi; ; za, Gvangjsih, italics=yes), officially the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region (GZAR), is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China, located in South China and bordering Vietnam ( ...

beginning in 2006 and remained in that office for roughly a year. He was appointed Sichuan's Communist Party Secretary in December 2007. He was selected to be the

chairman The chairperson, also chairman, chairwoman or chair, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the group ...

of the Standing Committee of the Sichuan Provincial People's Congress on January 27, 2008. He served as the chief of the

Chinese Communist Party The Chinese Communist Party (CCP), officially the Communist Party of China (CPC), is the founding and sole ruling party of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Under the leadership of Mao Zedong, the CCP emerged victorious in the Chinese Ci ...

Sichuan Committee, the province's top leader from 2008 to 2012. At the 18th Party Congress held in November 2012, Liu was promoted to the

, and named head of the Propaganda Department of the Central Committee, succeeding

Liu Yunshan Liu Yunshan (; ; born July 1947) is a retired Chinese politician. He was a member of the Politburo Standing Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, the top decision-making body of the CCP, between 2012 and 2017; he was broadly tasked with the wo ...

(no relation), who became a member of the

Politburo Standing Committee The Politburo Standing Committee (PSC), officially the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, is a committee consisting of the top leadership of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Histori ...

. In 2017 Qibao met with

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is ...

Alexis Tsipras Alexis Tsipras ( el, Αλέξης Τσίπρας, ; born 28 July 1974) is a Greek politician serving as Leader of the Official Opposition since 2019. He served as Prime Minister of Greece from 2015 to 2019. Tsipras has led the Coalition of th ...

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates a ...

, Greece. At the 19th Party Congress held in October 2017, Liu was unable to secure a Politburo seat even though he had not yet reached the conventional retirement at the age of 68. He held onto a seat on the Central Committee, however. On March 14, 2018, he was named one of the Vice-Chairmen of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.

References

External links

Biography

Xinhua Xinhua News Agency (English pronunciation: )J. C. Wells: Longman Pronunciation Dictionary, 3rd ed., for both British and American English, or New China News Agency, is the official state news agency of the People's Republic of China. Xinhua ...

(November 2012)
Who's Who in China's Leadership
China.org.cn (November 2012) , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Liu, Qibao 1953 births Politicians from Anqing Chinese Communist Party politicians from Anhui Living people Anhui Normal University alumni Heads of the Publicity Department of the Chinese Communist Party People's Republic of China politicians from Anhui Political office-holders in Sichuan Political office-holders in Guangxi Members of the 19th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party Members of the 18th Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party Members of the 17th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party Vice Chairpersons of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference