Zhou Ji (; born August 26, 1946) is a Chinese mechanical engineer and politician. He served as China's

Minister of Education An education minister (sometimes minister of education) is a position in the governments of some countries responsible for dealing with educational matters. Where known, the government department, ministry, or agency that develops policy and deli ...

from 2003 to 2009 and President of the

Chinese Academy of Engineering The Chinese Academy of Engineering (CAE, ) is the national academy of the People's Republic of China for engineering. It was established in 1994 and is an institution of the State Council of China. The CAE and the Chinese Academy of Sciences a ...

from 2010 to 2018. Prior to that, served briefly as Mayor of

Wuhan Wuhan; is the capital of Hubei, China. With a population of over eleven million, it is the most populous city in Hubei and the List of cities in China by population, eighth-most-populous city in China. It is also one of the nine National cent ...

, the capital of

Hubei Hubei is a province of China, province in Central China. It has the List of Chinese provincial-level divisions by GDP, seventh-largest economy among Chinese provinces, the second-largest within Central China, and the third-largest among inland ...

Province.

Biography

Zhou is a native of Shanghai, and attended

Tsinghua University Tsinghua University (THU) is a public university in Haidian, Beijing, China. It is affiliated with and funded by the Ministry of Education of China. The university is part of Project 211, Project 985, and the Double First-Class Constructio ...

in Beijing, where he graduated from in 1970, and received M.E. degree in mechanical engineering from

Huazhong University of Science and Technology The Huazhong University of Science and Technology (HUST; ) is a public university in Wuhan, Hubei, China. It is affiliated with the Ministry of Education of China. The university is part of Project 985, Project 211, and the Double First-Cl ...

in 1980. Zhou also acquired a doctorate from the

University at Buffalo, The State University of New York The State University of New York at Buffalo (commonly referred to as UB, University at Buffalo, and sometimes SUNY Buffalo) is a public university, public research university in Buffalo, New York, Buffalo and Amherst, New York, United States. ...

(PhD, '84, M.S.'81) in the United States. Much of his early career was spent at the

, where he eventually rose to become the president of

in 1997. He was elected as the fellow of the

in 1999. He then spent a tenure in the municipal government of Wuhan, where he served as deputy mayor and Mayor. He was transferred to work in the

Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China The Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China is a constituent department of the State Council, responsible for basic education, vocational education, higher education, and other educational affairs throughout the country. Th ...

in 2002 as its Vice-Minister, rising to the Minister position on March 17, 2003. At the re-elections of the

2008 National People's Congress The first session of the 11th National People's Congress held its annual meeting from March 5 to March 18, 2008 in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China, in conjunction with the 2008 Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference. T ...

, Zhou received the fewest votes in favour out of any minister. He received 384 votes against, with 81 abstentions.港报：袁贵仁有望接任中国教育部长
During Zhou's time in office, China's education system continued to be plagued by

academic dishonesty Academic dishonesty, academic misconduct, academic fraud and academic integrity are related concepts that refer to various actions on the part of students that go against the expected norms of a school, university or other learning institution ...

, corruption, and arbitrary fees, with no discernible signs of improvement. Zhou was also unpopular due to his introduction of 16 "officially sanctioned" educational

Peking Opera Peking opera, or Beijing opera (), is the most dominant form of Chinese opera, which combines instrumental music, vocal performance, mime, martial arts, dance and acrobatics. It arose in Beijing in the mid-Qing dynasty (1644–1912) and became ...

works, some of which allegedly included themes similar to those during the

Cultural Revolution The Cultural Revolution, formally known as the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, was a Social movement, sociopolitical movement in the China, People's Republic of China (PRC). It was launched by Mao Zedong in 1966 and lasted until his de ...

. These works were openly opposed by members of the

Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference The Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) is a political advisory body in the People's Republic of China and a central part of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)'s United front (China), united front system. Its members adv ...

in March 2009. He was removed in October 2009 at a regular session of the National People's Congress; he was replaced by deputy Yuan Guiren. He was instead appointed deputy party secretary at the

in Beijing, a "less important but still significant post," according to the ''

Chronicle of Higher Education ''The Chronicle of Higher Education'' is an American newspaper and website that presents news, information, and jobs for college and university faculty and student affairs professionals, including staff members and administrators. A subscriptio ...

''."News Analysis: What the Shakeup in China's Education Ministry Could Mean for Reform" by Nara Hvistendah
link
Chronicle of Higher Education, Nov. 4, 2009. Stanley Rosen, director of the East Asian Studies Center at the University of Southern California, commented that Mr. Zhou's new post does not suggest serious punishment, and is "a sign that he's a

scapegoat In the Bible, a scapegoat is one of a pair of kid goats that is released into the wilderness, taking with it all sins and impurities, while the other is sacrificed. The concept first appears in the Book of Leviticus, in which a goat is designate ...

, not that he's corrupt." Due to the contribution in numeric control, computer-aided design, and design optimization, he was selected as the foreign associate of the United States

National Academy of Engineering The National Academy of Engineering (NAE) is an American Nonprofit organization, nonprofit, NGO, non-governmental organization. It is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM), along with the National Academ ...

in 2013. In 2018 he was elected an International Fellow of the

Royal Academy of Engineering The Royal Academy of Engineering (RAEng) is the United Kingdom's national academy of engineering. The Academy was founded in June 1976 as the Fellowship of Engineering with support from Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, who became the first senio ...

in the UK.

References

External links

Biography at China Vitae
{{DEFAULTSORT:Zhou, Ji 1946 births Living people 21st-century mayors of places in China Mayors of Wuhan Members of the Chinese Academy of Engineering Ministers of education of the People's Republic of China People's Republic of China politicians from Shanghai Tsinghua University alumni University at Buffalo alumni Presidents of Huazhong University of Science and Technology Fellows of the Royal Academy of Engineering Chinese mechanical engineers Foreign associates of the National Academy of Engineering

Biography

See also

References

External links