Feng Lixiang (; born August 1957) is a Chinese politician from

Shanxi Shanxi (; ; formerly romanised as Shansi) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China and is part of the North China region. The capital and largest city of the province is Taiyuan, while its next most populated prefecture-lev ...

who served as 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 ...

Datong Datong is a prefecture-level city in northern Shanxi Province in the People's Republic of China. It is located in the Datong Basin at an elevation of and borders Inner Mongolia to the north and west and Hebei to the east. As of the 2020 cen ...

from 2008 to 2014. In 2014, he was investigated for corruption, expelled from the Communist Party, and indicted on bribery charges.

Early life and education

Feng was born and raised in

Shanyin County Shanyin County () is a county in the northwest of Shanxi province, China. It is under the administration of Shuozhou Shuozhou is a prefecture-level city in northern Shanxi province, China, bordering Inner Mongolia to the northwest. It is ...

. In December 1974, at age 17, he became a

sent-down youth The sent-down, rusticated, or "educated" youth (), also known as the ''zhiqing'', were the young people who—beginning in the 1950s until the end of the Cultural Revolution, willingly or under coercion—left the urban districts of the ...

during the

Cultural Revolution The Cultural Revolution, formally known as the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, was a sociopolitical movement in the People's Republic of China (PRC) launched by Mao Zedong in 1966, and lasting until his death in 1976. Its stated go ...

. Feng joined 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 ...

in September 1976, around the time of Mao's death. After the resumption of

National College Entrance Examination The National College Entrance Examination (NCEE), commonly known as the gaokao (), is a standardized college entrance exam held annually in mainland China. It is required for entrance into almost all higher education institutions at the underg ...

, he entered the

Taiyuan University of Technology Taiyuan University of Technology () (abbreviation: TYUT or TUT) is a university in Taiyuan, Shanxi, China, under the authority of the provincial government. In 2012, it celebrated its 110th anniversary. It has been included in major national i ...

, majoring in mechanical engineering. After college, he was assigned to Shanxi Metallurgical Geological Exploration Company (), one year later, he was transferred to the General Office of CPC Shanxi Provincial Committee as a secretary. He earned a M.E. degree from

University of Science and Technology Beijing The University of Science and Technology Beijing (USTB; ), formerly known as Beijing Steel and Iron Institute () before 1988, is a national key university in Haidian District, Beijing, China. USTB's metallurgy and materials science programmes ar ...

in 1995 and a Doctor of Management Science and Engineering degree from

Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics The Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics (NUAA, ), colloquially known as Nanhang (南航), is a public research university in Nanjing, China. One of the Seven Sons of National Defence, it is directly supervised by the Ministry of In ...

in 2008.

Career

From December 1988 to March 1996, he served in various political roles in the General Office of the Shanxi Provincial Government. He served as secretary general of Taiyuan Municipal Party Committee from March 1996 to August 2001, then he was promoted to deputy party chief of Taiyuan. Feng served as deputy party chief of

from February 2006 to February 2008, and the party chief, the top political position in the city, from February 2008 to October 2014. He concurrently served as mayor of Datong from March 2006 to February 2008.

Downfall

On October 15, 2014, it was announced that Feng was being investigated by the

Central Commission for Discipline Inspection The Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) is the highest internal control institution of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), tasked with enforcing internal rules and regulations and combating corruption and malfeasance in the pa ...

of the

for "serious violations of laws and regulations". Feng was the first prefecture-level "first-in-charge" (i.e. party chief) to be investigated for corruption in Shanxi province after the 18th Party Congress. Following his dismissal, several of his subordinates, including the party chiefs of the

Yanggao Yanggao County is a county in the northeast of Shanxi province, China, bordering Inner Mongolia to the northwest and Hebei province to the east. It is under the administration of the prefecture-level city of Datong. History Yanggao was formerl ...

Tianzhen Tianzhen County () is a county of Shanxi province, China, bordering Hebei province to the northeast, east and south and Inner Mongolia to the northwest. It is under the administration of Datong City and is the northernmost county-level division of ...

and

Zuoyun Zuoyun County is a county in the north of Shanxi province, China, bordering Inner Mongolia to the north. It is the westernmost county-level division of the prefecture-level city of Datong Datong is a prefecture-level city in northern Shanxi ...

counties, were rounded up for investigation as well, showing the 'depth' of corruption in the city. In November 2014, Feng was indicted on charges of giving and accepting bribes by the Tianjin People's Procuratorate, and arrested. After his dismissal, Datong did not have a party chief until August 2015, when Beijing official

Zhang Jifu Zhang Jifu (; born September 1964) is a Chinese politician, and the Communist Party Secretary of Datong. He entered the workforce in September 1989, and joined the Chinese Communist Party in March 1985. Before his career in Datong, Zhang served ...

was 'parachuted' into the city to take charge. On August 7, he was expelled from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and dismissed from public office. And his suspected crimes will be transferred to the procuratorate for further investigation and prosecution. On October 12, 2016, he was sentenced to 20 years and fined 2 million yuan for taking bribes, offering bribes and huge amount of property with unknown sources.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Feng, Lixiang 1957 births Chinese Communist Party politicians from Shanxi Living people Political office-holders in Shanxi Taiyuan University of Technology alumni University of Science and Technology Beijing alumni Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics alumni People's Republic of China politicians from Shanxi Mayors of places in China Politicians from Shuozhou Expelled members of the Chinese Communist Party