Xu Guangchun (; November 1944 – 21 October 2022)
Red Boat Magazine, 21 October 2022. was a Chinese politician who served as the Communist Party Secretary of

Henan Henan (; or ; ; alternatively Honan) is a landlocked province of China, in the central part of the country. Henan is often referred to as Zhongyuan or Zhongzhou (), which literally means "central plain" or "midland", although the name is al ...

province between 2004 and 2009.

Biography

Xu Guangchun was born in

Shaoxing Shaoxing (; ) is a prefecture-level city on the southern shore of Hangzhou Bay in northeastern Zhejiang province, China. It was formerly known as Kuaiji and Shanyin and abbreviated in Chinese as (''Yuè'') from the area's former inhabitants ...

Zhejiang Zhejiang ( or , ; , also romanized as Chekiang) is an eastern, coastal province of the People's Republic of China. Its capital and largest city is Hangzhou, and other notable cities include Ningbo and Wenzhou. Zhejiang is bordered by ...

, China, in November 1944. Before he graduated from high school he went to work for the Hangzhou Daily newspaper as a reporter. He graduated from the Journalism Department of

Renmin University of China The Renmin University of China (RUC; ) is a national key public research university in Beijing, China. The university is affiliated to the Ministry of Education, and co-funded by the Ministry and the Beijing Municipal People's Government. ...

in 1969 and joined the

Communist Party of China 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 Civil ...

in 1973. During this time he continued to work for local military publications, beginning in 1972 with the

Anhui Anhui , (; formerly romanized as Anhwei) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, part of the East China region. Its provincial capital and largest city is Hefei. The province is located across the basins of the Yangtze River ...

Production and Construction Corps, where he served as a reporter for Corps Soldiers Newspaper. In 1975 he began a seven-year stint with

Xinhua News Agency Xinhua News Agency (English pronunciation: )J. C. Wells: Longman Pronunciation Dictionary, 3rd ed., for both British and American English, or New China News Agency, is the official state news agency of the People's Republic of China. Xinhua ...

bureau. Seven years later he joined the Chinese Photographers Association and later chaired the

Photojournalist Society. He was named to head Xinhua's

Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flowin ...

bureau in 1985, and the

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

bureau in 1988. In 1984 he held his first public office. Xu became the Secretary of the CPC

Committee in 2004, and inherited a Henan bureaucracy that underwent restructuring under

Li Keqiang Li Keqiang (born 1 July 1955) is a Chinese politician who is the outgoing premier of China. An economist by profession, Li is head of China's executive branch as well as one of the leading figures behind China's Financial and Economic Affai ...

. During his term, he largely continued on Li's general policy direction. Xu was a member of the 16th and 17th CPC Central Committees. He has been chosen to host high-level foreign delegations, including an August, 2009 visit to

Zhengzhou Zhengzhou (; ), also spelt Zheng Zhou and alternatively romanized as Chengchow, is the capital and largest city of Henan Province in the central part of the People's Republic of China. Located in north-central Henan, it is one of the Nationa ...

by seven

lieutenant governor A lieutenant governor, lieutenant-governor, or vice governor is a high officer of state, whose precise role and rank vary by jurisdiction. Often a lieutenant governor is the deputy, or lieutenant, to or ranked under a governor — a "second-in-comm ...

s from

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the ...

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. To the north, it shares a small portion of the Canada–United States border with the province of British Columbia. It borders the states of Montana and W ...

Montana Montana () is a U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West List of regions of the United States#Census Bureau-designated regions and divisions, division of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North ...

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the List of U.S. states and territories by population, 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minne ...

Mississippi Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Mis ...

North Dakota North Dakota () is a U.S. state in the Upper Midwest, named after the indigenous Dakota Sioux. North Dakota is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba to the north and by the U.S. states of Minnesota to the east, S ...

and

Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and Unincorporated ...

. Xu was very active in journalist circles in China and has published a variety of books, including the Practical Manual for Amateur Photography, which was awarded the national Golden Key Award. He was married to Han Wufeng. Xu left office as party chief of Henan in 2009, after having reached the typical retirement age for provincial-level officials of 65. He went on to sit on the

National People's Congress Financial and Economic Affairs Committee The National People's Congress Financial and Economic Affairs Committee () is one of nine special committees of the National People's Congress, the national legislature of the People's Republic of China. The special committee was created during ...

until 2013.

References

External links

Biography of Xu Guangchun

. {{DEFAULTSORT:Guangchun, Xu 1944 births 2022 deaths Members of the 16th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party Members of the 17th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party Delegates to the 10th National People's Congress Delegates to the 11th National People's Congress People's Republic of China politicians from Zhejiang Hangzhou High School alumni Renmin University of China alumni Chinese Communist Party politicians from Zhejiang Writers from Shaoxing CCP committee secretaries of Henan People's Republic of China writers People's Republic of China journalists Politicians from Shaoxing Guangming Daily people