Su Shulin ( zh, c=苏树林, p=Sū Shùlín; born 14 March 1962) is a Chinese oil and gas executive and former politician. Between 2011 and 2015, he served as
Governor of Fujian
The governor of Fujian, officially the Governor of the Fujian Provincial People's Government, is the head of Fujian, Fujian Province and leader of the Fujian Provincial People's Government.
The governor is elected by the Fujian Provincial People ...
, on China's eastern coast. Before beginning his political career, Su served as the vice-president in the state-owned
PetroChina
PetroChina Company Limited () is a Chinese oil and gas company and is the listed arm of state-owned China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), headquartered in Dongcheng District, Beijing. The company is currently Asia's largest oil and ga ...
Company Limited. He later became chief executive of
Sinopec
China Petroleum and Chemical Corporation, or Sinopec Group, is a Chinese oil and gas enterprise based in Chaoyang District, Beijing. The SASAC administers China Petroleum and Chemical Corporation for the benefit of State Council of the ...
Group. In 2011, Su was named Governor of Fujian. He was investigated by the
Central Commission for Discipline Inspection
The Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) is the highest supervisory organ of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The CCDI is elected and supervised by the National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party, CCP National Congress. ...
in 2015 and subsequently expelled from the Chinese Communist Party for violating organizational discipline. He was sentenced to sixteen years in prison upon being convicted on charges of bribery and abuse of power.
Biography
Su Shulin traces his heritage to
Dong'e County
Dong'e County () falls under the jurisdiction of Liaocheng Prefecture-level city, in the Shandong Province of China. It is located on the left (northern) bank of the Yellow River, some upstream from the provincial capital Jinan.
The county is r ...
, Shandong province. In 1962, Su was born into a large family of poor farmers living in Northeastern China. His given name, "Shulin", literally means "forest". He had six siblings. His father died when he was 14 years old. He graduated from
Daqing Petroleum Institute and received a master's degree at the
Harbin Institute of Technology
The Harbin Institute of Technology (HIT) is a public science and engineering university in Nan'gang, Harbin, Heilongjiang, China. It is one of the top universities in China and now affiliated with the Ministry of Industry and Information Techn ...
. He is a senior engineer with many years experience in China's oil and gas industry, working mostly in the
Daqing oil field
The Daqing Oil Field (), formerly romanized as "Taching", is the largest oil field in the People's Republic of China, located between the Songhua river and Nen River in Heilongjiang province. When the Chinese government began to use pinyin for ro ...
of
Liaoning
)
, image_skyline =
, image_alt =
, image_caption = Clockwise: Mukden Palace in Shenyang, Xinghai Square in Dalian, Dalian coast, Yalu River at Dandong
, image_map = Liaoning in China (+all claims hatched).svg
, ...
province.
From August 2000 to March 2001, Su acted as Deputy General Manager of
China National Petroleum Corporation
The China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) () is a major national oil and gas corporation of China and one of the largest integrated energy groups in the world. Its headquarters are in Dongcheng District, Beijing, Dongcheng District, Beij ...
, Vice President of
PetroChina
PetroChina Company Limited () is a Chinese oil and gas company and is the listed arm of state-owned China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), headquartered in Dongcheng District, Beijing. The company is currently Asia's largest oil and ga ...
Company Limited, chairman, General Manager and Secretary to the Party Committee of Daqing Oilfield Company Limited as well as Vice Secretary to the Party Committee of CNPC Daqing Petroleum Administration Bureau. From December 2003 to September 2006, Su acted as Deputy General Manager and member of the Party Committee of China National Petroleum Corporation, Director and Senior Vice President of PetroChina Company Limited. From September 2006 to October 2006, Su was selected as a member of the
Standing Committee of the provincial Party Committee of Liaoning Province, working under
Li Keqiang
Li Keqiang ( zh, s=李克强, p=Lǐ Kèqiáng; 3 July 1955 – 27 October 2023) was a Chinese economist and politician who served as the seventh premier of China from 2013 to 2023. He was also the second-ranked member of the Politburo Standing ...
. In October 2006, Su was appointed as the Head of the Organization Department of Liaoning Provincial Committee.
In June 2007, he was appointed as president and Secretary of the Party Leadership Group of Sinopec Group Company. Su was elected as Director and chairman on Third Session of the Board of Directors of Sinopec Corp in August 2007.
Fujian governor and investigation
In 2011, Su resigned from Sinopec after being named Governor of Fujian province. At the time of his appointment, he was one of only a handful of provincial leaders in China born after 1960, and therefore was initially considered a promising candidate to enter the top ranks of the national leadership. However, his fortunes receded following the 18th Party Congress due to a widespread shake-up of the state oil sector, particularly after the downfall of former oil boss and
Politburo Standing Committee
The Politburo Standing Committee (PSC), officially the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, is a committee consisting of the top leadership of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) an ...
member
Zhou Yongkang
Zhou Yongkang (; born December 3, 1942) is a former senior leader of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The 17th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party (2007–2012) elected Zhou to be one of the nine members of the 17th Politburo ...
and his associates.
Xu Gang, vice governor who worked under Su, was investigated for corruption in March 2015. Su's former associate,
Liao Yongyuan
Liao Yongyuan ( zh, c= 廖永远, p=Liào Yǒngyuǎn; born 1962) is a former Chinese business executive. He was the president of China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), which is the oil giant of China. Liao is also nicknamed "Northwest Tige ...
, chief executive of
China National Petroleum Corporation
The China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) () is a major national oil and gas corporation of China and one of the largest integrated energy groups in the world. Its headquarters are in Dongcheng District, Beijing, Dongcheng District, Beij ...
, was rounded up for investigation in March 2015. When Liao and Su were both rising in the corporate ranks of big oil companies, the media took note of the fact that they were both born in the year of the
Tiger
The tiger (''Panthera tigris'') is a large Felidae, cat and a member of the genus ''Panthera'' native to Asia. It has a powerful, muscular body with a large head and paws, a long tail and orange fur with black, mostly vertical stripes. It is ...
on the
Chinese zodiac
The Chinese zodiac is a traditional classification scheme based on the Chinese calendar that assigns an animal and its reputed attributes to each year in a repeating twelve-year (or duodenary) cycle. The zodiac is very important in traditional ...
, so Liao was nicknamed the "northwestern tiger" while Su was called the "northeastern tiger". This provided for an ironic twist years later when both of them fell under the anti-corruption dragnet (Xi Jinping had referred to high-ranking corrupt officials as "tigers").
In the late evening on 7 October 2015, the
Central Commission for Discipline Inspection
The Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) is the highest supervisory organ of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The CCDI is elected and supervised by the National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party, CCP National Congress. ...
made an abrupt announcement that Su was under investigation for "serious violations of regulations." Su was the first sitting governor to be investigated by the CCDI since the 18th Party Congress, and the seventh full member of the 18th Central Committee to fall from grace. Though he was put under investigation, he kept his governor position until his resignation was accepted by The Fujian Province People's Congress on 3 November.
On 4 July 2017, the CCDI announced the results of the internal party investigation into Su Shulin. The agency said that Su "severely violated political discipline and political rules", attempted to gain information on the inspection, engaged in "non-organizational activities", resisted investigation, promoted individuals in violation of party regulations, placed his personal interests above that of the state. Su was said to have "indiscriminately abused his power" and led to the serious loss of state assets; he severely violated the "
Eight-point Regulation
The Eight-point Regulation from the Central ( zh, c=中央八项规定) is a set of regulations stipulated by the Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in 2012 aimed at instilling more discipline among party members and making the party ...
", used public funds for personal expenses, used public funds to support the travel of family and friends, used publicly assigned vehicles for personal purposes, used his position of power to help relatives secure real estate at below-market prices. He was indicted on charges of abuse of power and bribery.
Su was an alternate member of the 16th and 17th Central Committees of the Chinese Communist Party. Su is a full member of the
18th Central Committee.
On 26 July 2018, Su was sentenced to 16 years in prison and fined three million yuan for taking bribes worth 36.22 million yuan and abusing of power by the Shanghai Second Intermediate People's Court.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Su, Shulin
1962 births
Living people
Governors of Fujian
Chinese Communist Party politicians from Heilongjiang
People's Republic of China politicians from Heilongjiang
People from Qiqihar
Businesspeople from Heilongjiang
Harbin Institute of Technology alumni
People expelled from the Chinese Communist Party in 2017
Chinese politicians convicted of corruption
Deputy Party Secretaries of Fujian