Chen Qiufa (; born December 1954) is a Chinese aerospace engineer and politician of Miao ethnic heritage. He is the

Communist Party Secretary A Party Committee Secretary () is the leader of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) organization in a province, city, village, or other administrative unit. In most cases, it is the ''de facto'' highest political office of its area of jurisdictio ...

and the former

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

Liaoning Liaoning () is a coastal province in Northeast China that is the smallest, southernmost, and most populous province in the region. With its capital at Shenyang, it is located on the northern shore of the Yellow Sea, and is the northernmost ...

province. He formerly served as Director of the

China Atomic Energy Authority China Atomic Energy Authority (CAEA; ) is the regulatory agency that oversees the development of nuclear energy in the People's Republic of China. History The agency was created out of the regulatory functions department of the China National N ...

, Director of the

China National Space Administration China National Space Administration (CNSA; ) is the government agency of the People's Republic of China that is responsible for civil space administration and international space cooperation, including organizing or leading foreign exchanges ...

(CNSA), and Vice-Minister of Industry and Information Technology.

Early life and education

Chen Qiufa was born in December 1954 in Chengdu County (now Chengbu Miao Autonomous County),

Hunan Hunan (, ; ) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, part of the South Central China region. Located in the middle reaches of the Yangtze watershed, it borders the province-level divisions of Hubei to the north, Jiangxi to ...

Province. He is a member of the

Miao Miao may refer to: * Miao people, linguistically and culturally related group of people, recognized as such by the government of the People's Republic of China * Miao script or Pollard script, writing system used for Miao languages * Miao (Unicode ...

minority. He began working in March 1973 as a teacher at Lianxing Elementary School in Chengbu, and joined the

Communist Party of China 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 Civil ...

in September 1974. In September 1975, Chen entered the

electrical engineering Electrical engineering is an engineering discipline concerned with the study, design, and application of equipment, devices, and systems which use electricity, electronics, and electromagnetism. It emerged as an identifiable occupation in the l ...

department of

National University of Defense Technology The National University of Defense Technology (NUDT; ) is a National university, national Public university, public research university in Changsha, Hunan, China. Founded in 1953 as the People's Liberation Army Military Academy of Engineering, ...

Changsha Changsha (; ; ; Changshanese pronunciation: (), Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is the capital and the largest city of Hunan Province of China. Changsha is the 17th most populous city in China with a population of over 10 million, an ...

, majoring in radar countermeasure. He graduated in October 1978.

Career

After university Chen worked for the

Ministry of Aerospace Industry The Ministry of Aerospace Industry of the People's Republic of China () was a government ministry responsible for its national space program. This ministry was split into the China National Space Administration and China Aerospace Science and Tech ...

from 1978 to 1994, first as an engineer, and later as a manager. From 1994 to 1998 he worked for

China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation The China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, or CASC, is the main contractor for the Chinese space program. It is state-owned and has subsidiaries which design, develop and manufacture a range of spacecraft, launch vehicles, strategic ...

. From 1998 to 2000 he was Director of the education department of the

Commission for Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense The Commission for Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense (COSTIND; Chinese character, Chinese: 国防科学技术工业委员会) was a civilian ministry within the State Council of China, State Council of the People's Republic of ...

(COSTIND). He was Head of Commission for Discipline Inspection at COSTIND from 2000 to 2005. From 2005 to 2008 he was deputy director of COSTIND. When COSTIND was reorganized and merged into the

Ministry of Industry and Information Technology The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of the Chinese government, established in March 2008, is the state agency of the People's Republic of China responsible for regulation and development of the postal service, Internet, wireless ...

(MIIT) in 2008, he became Director of the State Administration for Science, Technology and Industry for National Defence (SASTIND) under MIIT, as well as Vice-Minister of MIIT. He was also appointed Director of the

in 2008 and Director of the

in 2010. In January 2013, he left all his positions with MIIT and was tapped to become Chairman of the

Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference The Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC, zh, 中国人民政治协商会议), also known as the People's PCC (, ) or simply the PCC (), is a political advisory body in the People's Republic of China and a central part of ...

(PPCC) of his native

Province, taking on a political office for the first time. He was also elected in November 2012 as a full member of the 18th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China. On May 4, 2015, Chen Qiufa was appointed Acting Governor and Deputy Party Secretary of

province, succeeding Li Xi, who was promoted to Party Secretary. Along with

Ma Xingrui Ma Xingrui (; born October 1959) is a Chinese politician and aerospace engineer who is the Communist Party Secretary of Xinjiang. Prior to that, he had served as the Vice Minister of Industry and Information Technology, Head of the Political an ...

and

Zhang Qingwei Zhang Qingwei (; born 7 November 1961) is a Chinese politician, business executive, and aerospace engineer who is the current Communist Party Secretary of Hunan, in office since 18 October 2021. He was Communist Party Secretary of Heilongjiang, ...

, Chen was one of a growing number of high regional officials in his generation who rose through the aerospace industry. Chen's appointment to Liaoning also demonstrated that being a provincial-level PPCC chief was no longer considered a "political retirement home" for older politicians, and that holders of this office could still be considered for further promotion.;

He Lifeng He Lifeng (; born February 1955) is a Chinese economist, politician, the current chairman of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), and a member of the Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party. Earlier in his career, he worked in ...

is another prominent example of this arrangement. He was appointed as the Party Secretary of Liaoning in 2017. He was replaced by

Zhang Guoqing Zhang Guoqing (; born August 1964) is a Chinese politician and former corporate executive and CPC Secretary of Liaoning and a member of the Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party. Previously, he served as the mayor of Tianjin, one of the four ...

in 2020. On 17 October 2020, Chen was appointed as the Deputy Chairperson of the

National People's Congress Education, Science, Culture and Public Health Committee The National People's Congress Education, Science, Culture and Public Health Committee () is one of nine special committees of the National People's Congress, the national legislature of the People's Republic of China. The special committee was ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chen, Qiufa Living people 1954 births Chinese Communist Party politicians from Hunan People's Republic of China politicians from Hunan Governors of Liaoning Miao people Scientists from Hunan Politicians from Shaoyang Chinese aerospace engineers National University of Defense Technology alumni Political office-holders in Hunan China National Space Administration people Delegates to the 12th National People's Congress Members of the 19th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party Members of the 18th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party Members of the 12th Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference Engineers from Hunan