Tan Shaowen (; July 4, 1929 – February 3, 1993) was a Chinese politician. He served as the

Communist Party Chief 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 top leader of the

direct-controlled municipality A direct-controlled municipality is the highest level classification for cities used by unitary states, with status equal to that of the provinces in the respective countries. A direct-controlled municipality is similar to, but not the same as, a ...

Tianjin Tianjin (; ; Mandarin: ), alternately romanized as Tientsin (), is a municipality and a coastal metropolis in Northern China on the shore of the Bohai Sea. It is one of the nine national central cities in Mainland China, with a total popul ...

, and was a member of the

Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party The Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party, formally known as the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and known as the Central Bureau before 1927, is the decision-making body of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). ...

, one of the most powerful political bodies in the People's Republic of China. However, he died in 1993 before completing the full term of his office.

Early life and career

Tan Shaowen was born on July 4, 1929 in Xinjin County,

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 the ...

province. Both his parents worked as post and telecommunications employees. He attended primary and secondary school in Xinjin. From 1948 to 1952 Tan attended several institutes of higher learning, including the Ming Yin College in Chengdu Textile Engineering and the Northwest Institute of Textile Engineering. He was assigned to a state-owned

cotton mill A cotton mill is a building that houses spinning (textiles), spinning or weaving machinery for the production of yarn or cloth from cotton, an important product during the Industrial Revolution in the development of the factory system. Althou ...

as a technician from 1953 to 1958. He became a teacher, and eventually the deputy director of the Woven Textile Industry School in Tianjin. From 1958 to 1966 he was the Vice Director of the

Hebei Hebei or , (; alternately Hopeh) is a northern province of China. Hebei is China's sixth most populous province, with over 75 million people. Shijiazhuang is the capital city. The province is 96% Han Chinese, 3% Manchu, 0.8% Hui, an ...

Institute of Textiles' Office of Academic Affairs. He eventually went on to become the President of the

Hebei University of Technology The Hebei University of Technology (HEBUT; ) is a provincial public university in Tianjin, China. HEBUT is sponsored by Hebei Provincial People's Government, Tianjin Municipal People's Government and the Ministry of Education of China, which sp ...

Political career

In May 1953, Tan joined the

Communist Youth League of China 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 ...

, and became a full member of the Chinese Communist Party in May 1955. From August 1981 to May 1982, he served as the Deputy Director, the Deputy Party Secretary, and eventually the Director of the Tianjin Education Committee. In May 1982, Tan Shaowen became a member of the CCP Tianjin Committee, and was promoted to Deputy

of Tianjin in March 1983. He was responsible for education, science and technology, and propaganda in Tianjin. In May 1988 he became Chairman of the CPPCC Municipal Committee of Tianjin, and in September 1989 he was promoted to Communist Party Chief, the top government post of Tianjin. In October 1992, Tan Shaowen became a member of the

14th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party The 14th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party was in session from 1992 to 1997. It held seven plenary sessions. It was preceded by the 13th Central Committee. It was elected by the 14th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party ...

, and was subsequently elected by that committee to serve in the

14th Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party The 14th Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party was elected by the 14th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party on October 19, 1992. It was preceded by the 13th Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party. It served until 1997. It was suc ...

, under the leadership of

Jiang Zemin Jiang Zemin (17 August 1926 – 30 November 2022) was a Chinese politician who served as general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from 1989 to 2002, as chairman of the Central Military Commission from 1989 to 2004, and as pres ...

. Tan was supposedly drawn into the central leadership in order to counteract the growing trend for local politicians to ignore the policy of the central government. Due to his early death, Tan served in only one of the seven Plenary Sessions of the 14th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party.

Political achievements

Tan Shaowen is credited with the modernisation of the Tianjin education system, as well as undertaking a series of measures to bolster Tianjin's economy. In terms of economic reform, Tan focused mainly on medium to large state-owned enterprises, and also constructed several development zones in Tianjin, including the New Technology Industrial Park. He also constructed urban and economic infrastructure, and promoted Tianjin to foreign investors.

Death

Tan died in Tianjin on February 3, 1993 at the age of 63 due to

lung cancer Lung cancer, also known as lung carcinoma (since about 98–99% of all lung cancers are carcinomas), is a malignant lung tumor characterized by uncontrolled cell growth in tissue (biology), tissues of the lung. Lung carcinomas derive from tran ...

. His death was significant, as it meant that the city of Tianjin was no longer represented in the

Politburo A politburo () or political bureau is the executive committee for communist parties. It is present in most former and existing communist states. Names The term "politburo" in English comes from the Russian ''Politbyuro'' (), itself a contraction ...

. The next Tianjin party chief to gain a seat on the Politburo was

Zhang Lichang Zhang Lichang (16 July 1939 – 10 January 2008) was a Chinese politician. He was a member of the 16th Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party, and the Communist Party Secretary of Tianjin. Zhang was born in July 1939, in Nanpi County, Hebei. ...

in 2002.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tan, Shaowen 1929 births 1993 deaths Political office-holders in Tianjin Deaths from lung cancer People's Republic of China politicians from Sichuan Chinese Communist Party politicians from Sichuan Members of the 14th Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party Politicians from Chengdu