Shohrat Zakir (, ; born August 1953) is a Chinese politician of Uyghur ethnicity who served as the chairman of Xinjiang and the deputy secretary of the Chinese Communist Party Xinjiang Committee from 2014 to 2021. Born in Yining (Ghulja), he studied computer science in Hubei Province, and later attended Tianjin University. Between 2000 and 2005, he served as the mayor of

Ürümqi Ürümqi, , is the capital of the Xinjiang, Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in Northwestern China. With a census population of 4 million in 2020, Ürümqi is the second-largest city in China's northwestern interior after Xi'an, also the ...

. He served as the chairman of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region between 2015 and 2021. Between 2017 and 2022, he was a member of the

Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party The Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, officially the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, is the Central committee, highest organ when the National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party, national congress is not ...

. In March 2023, he was appointed a vice chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress.

Early life

Born in Yining, Zakir was born into a family with revolutionary history. His grandfather Kaur Zakir was a progressive thinker during the warlord era and was executed by state agents of the warlord Sheng Shicai along with Mao Zemin and Chen Tanqiu. His father Abdullah Zakrof was one of the earliest ethnic Uyghurs to join the Xinjiang party organization shortly after the foundation of the People's Republic in 1949. Prior to the Cultural Revolution, Zakir's father was a member of the regional

standing committee A committee or commission is a body of one or more persons subordinate to a deliberative assembly or other form of organization. A committee may not itself be considered to be a form of assembly or a decision-making body. Usually, an assembly o ...

and Vice Chairman of Xinjiang. Between 1970 and 1972, Zakir was involved in the "

Down to the Countryside Movement The Up to the Mountains and Down to the Countryside Movement, often known simply as the Down to the Countryside Movement, was a policy instituted in the China, People's Republic of China between the mid-1950s and 1978. As a result of what he p ...

" in rural Xinjiang. He then worked as a teacher in an elementary school in

. He was transferred to Diwobao school in 1974. In March 1978, he left his homeland for Hubei to attend the Jianghan Petroleum College (now Yangtze University) located in Jingzhou to study

computer science Computer science is the study of computation, information, and automation. Computer science spans Theoretical computer science, theoretical disciplines (such as algorithms, theory of computation, and information theory) to Applied science, ...

. He then returned to Xinjiang to serve as a researcher at an earth sciences institute. In June 1984, he joined government, working for the regional economic committee.

Career

Between 1982 and 1986, Zakir obtained an English degree at the Urumqi Vocational College. During this time he also joined the Chinese Communist Party. He then worked in a series of roles supporting economic growth and trade in the regional government. In March 2001, he was named mayor of Urumqi. Beginning in December 2005 he worked for the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps. In 2007, he also earned an Executive MBA from Tianjin University. At 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 ...

Zakir was selected to become a member of the National Ethnic Affairs Committee of the National People's Congress. In June 2011, he became vice-chair of the State Ethnic Affairs Commission. In January 2014, he became Chairman of the Xinjiang People's Congress and in December 2014, he was named Chairman of Xinjiang, replacing Nur Bekri. In March 2019, addressing the issue of the widespread internment of ethnic minorities in

Xinjiang Xinjiang,; , SASM/GNC romanization, SASM/GNC: Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Sinkiang, officially the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR), is an Autonomous regions of China, autonomous region of the China, People' ...

, Zakir said that the camps were "training centers" rather than "

concentration camps A concentration camp is a prison or other facility used for the internment of political prisoners or politically targeted demographics, such as members of national or ethnic minority groups, on the grounds of national security, or for exploit ...

" as otherwise claimed and that the freedom of "trainees" was not restricted and that the camps were boarding schools where trainees could go home or ask for leave. On October 23, 2021, he was appointed vice chairperson of the National People's Congress Ethnic Affairs Committee. On March 10, 2023, during the

14th National People's Congress The 14th National People's Congress (NPC) is the sitting electoral term of the "supreme organ of state power" of the China, People's Republic of China. It convened in Beijing, on 5 March 2023, and is scheduled to continue until March 2028. Electio ...

, he was appointed Vice Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress.

Sanctions

On December 10, 2021, the U.S. Department of the Treasury added Zakir to its Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) list. Individuals on the list have their assets blocked and U.S. persons are generally prohibited from dealing with them. On December 10, 2024, on International Human Rights Day, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Canada

Mélanie Joly Mélanie Joly (; born January 16, 1979) is a Canadian politician and lawyer who has been serving as the Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry, Minister of Industry, Registrar General of Canada, and Minister responsible for the Economic D ...

announced Canada's sanctions against Zakir and seven other government officials of Xinjiang and Tibet involved in serious human rights violations.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zakir, Shohrat Chinese Communist Party politicians from Xinjiang Living people 1953 births Council of Chairpersons of the Standing Committee of the 14th National People's Congress Delegates to the 10th National People's Congress Delegates to the 11th National People's Congress Delegates to the 12th National People's Congress Delegates to the 13th National People's Congress Mayors of Ürümqi Members of the 19th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party People from Ili People's Republic of China politicians from Xinjiang Political office-holders in Xinjiang Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List Tianjin University alumni Uyghur politicians Chinese individuals subject to U.S. Department of the Treasury sanctions