Chen Guangyi ( zh, s=陈光毅; born August 1933) was a Chinese politician. He served as

Governor of Gansu The governor of Gansu, officially the Governor of the Gansu Provincial People's Government, is the head of Gansu, Gansu Province and leader of the Gansu Provincial People's Government. The governor is elected by the Gansu Provincial People's Cong ...

Party Secretary of Fujian The secretary of the Fujian Provincial Committee of the Chinese Communist Party is the leader of the Fujian Provincial Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, Fujian Provincial Committee of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). As the CCP is the ...

, and Director of the

Civil Aviation Administration of China The Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC; ) is the civil aviation authority of the People's Republic of China, under the Ministry of Transport of the People's Republic of China, Ministry of Transport. It oversees civil aviation and inv ...

. Under his leadership, Fujian achieved record economic growth that exceeded the national rate in the 20th century.

Early life and career

Chen Guangyi was born in August 1933 in

Putian Putian ( zh, s= , Putian dialect: ''Pó-chéng''), also known as Puyang (莆阳) and Puxian (莆仙), historically known as Hinghwa/Hinghua ( zh, s=兴化, t=興化), is a prefecture-level city in Fujian Province, People's Republic of China. I ...

Fujian Fujian is a provinces of China, province in East China, southeastern China. Fujian is bordered by Zhejiang to the north, Jiangxi to the west, Guangdong to the south, and the Taiwan Strait to the east. Its capital is Fuzhou and its largest prefe ...

Province. After graduating from the Mechanical-Electrical Department of Northeast China Engineering College (now Northeastern University) in 1953, he began working as a technician at the Ministry of Metallurgy. He joined the

Chinese Communist Party The Communist Party of China (CPC), also translated into English as Chinese Communist Party (CCP), is the founding and One-party state, sole ruling party of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Founded in 1921, the CCP emerged victorious in the ...

in 1959.

Career in Gansu

By 1960 Chen was working in

Gansu Gansu is a provinces of China, province in Northwestern China. Its capital and largest city is Lanzhou, in the southeastern part of the province. The seventh-largest administrative district by area at , Gansu lies between the Tibetan Plateau, Ti ...

Province in

Northwest China Northwestern China () is a region in the People's Republic of China. It consists of five provincial administrative regions, namely Shaanxi, Gansu, Qinghai, Ningxia, and Xinjiang. The region is characterized by a (semi-)arid continental climate. ...

, serving as a deputy division head for the Heavy Industry Department of Gansu, and Director of the Production Office of the Northwest China Nonferrous Metallurgical Design Academy (1964–1975). In 1980 he was promoted to Deputy Director of the Gansu Provincial Planning Committee, In March 1983, he was promoted to

Deputy Party Secretary In modern Chinese politics, a Deputy Party Committee Secretary (; also translated as Deputy Party Secretary, deputy party chief, vice party chief) serves as the lieutenant to the Chinese Communist Party Committee Secretary, and thus the depu ...

of Gansu, and a month later, Governor of Gansu Province. As governor, he focused on poverty relief,

soil erosion Soil erosion is the denudation or wearing away of the Topsoil, upper layer of soil. It is a form of soil degradation. This natural process is caused by the dynamic activity of erosive agents, that is, water, ice (glaciers), snow, Atmosphere of Ea ...

, and mining. He became a member of the 12th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party in September 1985.

Career in Fujian

In March 1986, Chen was transferred to his home province of Fujian to serve as its Party Chief. It was said that Jia Qinglin, a northerner, was intended to replace the retiring party chief Xiang Nan, but because of opposition from Fujianese cadres, the top post of the province went to Chen Guangyi instead. Chen's performance as the top leader of Fujian was mixed. Starting in 1988, there was an infusion of Taiwanese investment and a record level of economic growth and foreign investment. Chen also supported the

Xiamen Xiamen,), also known as Amoy ( ; from the Zhangzhou Hokkien pronunciation, zh, c=, s=, t=, p=, poj=Ē͘-mûi, historically romanized as Amoy, is a sub-provincial city in southeastern Fujian, People's Republic of China, beside the Taiwan Stra ...

special economic zone A special economic zone (SEZ) is an area in which the business and trade laws are different from the rest of the country. SEZs are located within a country's national borders, and their aims include increasing trade balance, employment, increas ...

and

Deng Xiaoping Deng Xiaoping also Romanization of Chinese, romanised as Teng Hsiao-p'ing; born Xiansheng (). (22 August 190419 February 1997) was a Chinese statesman, revolutionary, and political theorist who served as the paramount leader of the People's R ...

's southern tour of 1992. He responded swiftly and effectively to the complaints, and throughout the rest of 1992, he worked with officials from Xiamen,

Quanzhou Quanzhou is a prefecture-level city, prefecture-level port city on the north bank of the Jin River, beside the Taiwan Strait in southern Fujian, China, People's Republic of China. It is Fujian's largest most populous metropolitan region, wi ...

, and

Zhangzhou Zhangzhou (, ) is a prefecture-level city in Fujian Province, China. The prefecture around the city proper comprises the southeast corner of the province, facing the Taiwan Strait and (with Quanzhou) surrounding the prefecture of Xiamen. Nam ...

in southern Fujian on a strategy for growth. This resulted in strong performances in 1993, when Fujian had record economic growth which exceeded the national rate. From January 1988 to January 1993, Chen Guangyi served as Chairman of the Fujian Provincial Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.

National government

In 1993, Chen was appointed Director of the

, and served in that position until 1998. After 1998, he mainly worked in the

National People's Congress The National People's Congress (NPC) is the highest organ of state power of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The NPC is the only branch of government in China, and per the principle of unified power, all state organs from the Sta ...

(NPC), serving as Chairman of the Financial and Economic Affairs Committee in the 9th NPC (1998–2003), and as Chairman of the Overseas Chinese Affairs Committee in the 10th NPC (2003–2008). Chen was a member of the 12th to the 15th Central Committees of the Chinese Communist Party.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chen, Guangyi 1933 births Living people Politicians from Putian Governors of Gansu Chinese Communist Party politicians from Fujian People's Republic of China politicians from Fujian Directors of the Civil Aviation Administration of China Northeastern University (China) alumni Members of the 12th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party Members of the 13th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party Members of the 14th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party Members of the 15th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party Party Secretaries of Fujian Chairpersons of the Fujian Provincial Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference