Yang Yuanyuan (; born August 1950) is a Chinese retired pilot, aviation executive, aviation and safety regulator, and politician. He served as Director of the

Civil Aviation Administration of China The Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC; ) is the Chinese civil aviation authority under the Ministry of Transport. It oversees civil aviation and investigates aviation accidents and incidents. As the aviation authority responsible f ...

(CAAC) from 2002 to 2007 and deputy director of the

State Administration of Work Safety The State Administration of Work Safety (SAWS; ), reporting to the State Council, is the non-ministerial agency of the Government of the People's Republic of China responsible for the regulation of risks to occupational safety and health in China. ...

from 2007 to 2015. He was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award from the

Flight Safety Foundation The Flight Safety Foundation (FSF) is an independent, nonprofit, international organization concerning research, education, advocacy, and communications in the field of aviation safety. FSF brings together aviation professionals from all sectors ...

in 2006 for the significant reduction in China's aviation accident rate under his leadership.

Biography

Yang was born August 1950 in

Heyang County Heyang County (, ) is a county in Shaanxi Province, China, bordering Shanxi Province to the east across the Yellow River. It is under the administration of the prefecture-level city of Weinan. History Heyang County dates to at least the early Ha ...

Shaanxi Shaanxi (alternatively Shensi, see § Name) is a landlocked province of China. Officially part of Northwest China, it borders the province-level divisions of Shanxi (NE, E), Henan (E), Hubei (SE), Chongqing (S), Sichuan (SW), Gansu (W), Ning ...

Province. He is the son of , a former director of the

Taiwan Affairs Office The Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council is an administrative agency under the State Council of Mainland China. It is responsible for setting and implementing guidelines and policies related to the Republic of China (Taiwan), as stipulat ...

of the

CPC Central Committee The Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, officially the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, is a political body that comprises the top leaders of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). It is currently composed of 205 fu ...

. He joined the

People's Liberation Army The People's Liberation Army (PLA) is the principal military force of the People's Republic of China and the armed wing of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The PLA consists of five service branches: the Ground Force, Navy, Air Force, ...

(PLA) in September 1966, and 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 February 1968. He graduated from the CAAC Advanced Flight Institute (now

Civil Aviation Flight University of China Civil Aviation Flight University of China (abbreviated CAFUC) is the largest civil aviation university in Asia and the world's largest flight training institution. It is under the direct leadership of Civil Aviation Administration of China ( CA ...

) in 1969, and is a first-grade pilot. He then worked as a flight instructor in both the

PLA Air Force The People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF; ), also known as the Chinese Air Force (中国空军) or the People's Air Force (人民空军), is an aerial service branch of the People's Liberation Army, the regular armed forces of the Peo ...

and the CAAC. After 1981, he worked for the CAAC as a flight inspector and pilot. In December 1989, he became the deputy chief pilot of the CAAC Guangzhou Regional Administration, the predecessor of

China Southern Airlines China Southern Airlines Company Limited is an airline headquartered in Baiyun District, Guangzhou, Guangdong Province and is the largest airline in China. Established on 1 July 1988 following the restructuring of the CAAC Airlines that acq ...

. He became deputy chief pilot of China Southern Airlines in 1993, and chief pilot in 1996. In April 1998, he became vice-president of China Southern Airlines. In March 1999, Yang was appointed deputy director of the CAAC, and in May 2002, he succeeded Liu Jianfeng as director. He served in the position for more than five years until December 2007. During his tenure, China's civil aviation grew at an unprecedented rate. Its commercial air fleet almost tripled, yet its aviation accident rate plummeted from 2.5 accidents per million flight hours to 0.5. Consequently, Yang was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award from the

Boeing The Boeing Company () is an American multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and sells airplanes, rotorcraft, rockets, satellites, telecommunications equipment, and missiles worldwide. The company also provides leasing and ...

Aviation Safety in 2006. To strengthen safety, he mandated the consolidation of state-owned airlines into the "big three", so that each airline would have a larger pool of technical specialists. He also established the CAAC Flight Standards Training Center and the CAAC Civil Aviation Safety Academy. In December 2007, he was appointed a minister-level deputy director of the

. He served in that position for eight years until December 2015, when he reached the age of 65. Yang was a member of the

16th 16 (sixteen) is the natural number following 15 and preceding 17. 16 is a composite number, and a square number, being 42 = 4 × 4. It is the smallest number with exactly five divisors, its proper divisors being , , and . In English speech, ...

and the 17th Central Committees of the Communist Party of China.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Yang, Yuanyuan 1950 births Living people Directors of the Civil Aviation Administration of China Chinese aviators Chinese Communist Party politicians from Shaanxi People's Republic of China politicians from Shaanxi Members of the 16th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party Members of the 17th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party Politicians from Weinan Chinese business executives China Southern Airlines People's Liberation Army Air Force personnel Civil Aviation Flight University of China alumni Chinese aviation businesspeople