Liu Qibao

Liu Qibao
刘奇葆
Vice Chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference
In office
14 March 2018 – 10 March 2023
ChairmanWang Yang
Head of the Publicity Department of the Chinese Communist Party
In office
21 November 2012 – 29 October 2017
DeputyLuo Shugang (2012–2014)
Huang Kunming (2014–2017)
General SecretaryXi Jinping
Preceded byLiu Yunshan
Succeeded byHuang Kunming
Communist Party Secretary of Sichuan
In office
2 December 2007 – 21 November 2012
DeputyJiang Jufeng (Governor)
Li Chongxi (zhuanzhi)
Preceded byDu Qinglin
Succeeded byWang Dongming
Personal details
BornJanuary 1953 (age 70–71)
Susong, Anhui, China
Political partyChinese Communist Party
Alma materAnhui Normal University

Liu Qibao (Chinese: 刘奇葆; pinyin: Liú Qíbǎo; born January 1953) is a Chinese retired politician. He was a member of the 18th Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party, a Secretary of the Secretariat of the Chinese Communist Party, as well as the head of the Propaganda Department of the Central Committee.[1] Previously Liu have served as the party chief of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region and Sichuan province. He also served as one of the vice chairmen of 13th Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference between 2018 and 2023.

Early life and education

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Liu Qibao was born in a village near the banks of the Yangtze River in Susong County, Anhui Province in 1953, the second of four children.[2] After graduating from high school Liu worked on a farm. Liu joined the Communist Party in December 1971 and next year joined its Communist Youth League (CYL). He attended Anhui Normal University as a "Worker-Peasant-Soldier student" where he was a student of history at the Department of History.[3]

Career

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After graduating in 1974, Liu Qibao was a cadre at the Theoretical Research Office of the Department of Publicity, CPC Anhui Provincial Committee.[3] Following it, he eventually became secretary to Wan Li, then provincial Party Secretary of Anhui.[4]

In 1980, Wan Li was transferred to work for the central authorities in Beijing. Liu was sent to work for the CYL Anhui Provincial Committee, where he gained rapid career advancement. He led propaganda and ideology work at the CYL, eventually rising to lead the provincial CYL organization. In February 1984, he became mayor of Suzhou, Anhui,[3] a city with jurisdiction over some four million people, at only 31 years old. In November 1985, he was transferred to the CYL national organization, where he worked alongside future leaders Liu Yandong, Li Keqiang, and Li Yuanchao. Since then he has been identified by some observers as part of the "tuanpai", or "Youth League faction".

Liu left the Youth League in 1993 to serve as the deputy chief editor of People's Daily,[3] then he worked under Luo Gan and Wang Zhongyu as deputy Secretary-General of the State Council. Additionally he took on leading roles in the offices for the State Council task force on information technology, and the Central Commission for Spiritual Civilization.

Liu served as the Communist Party chief of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region beginning in 2006 and remained in that office for roughly a year.[2] He was appointed Sichuan's Communist Party Secretary in December 2007.[2] He was selected to be the chairman of the Standing Committee of the Sichuan Provincial People's Congress on January 27, 2008.[2] He served as the chief of the Chinese Communist Party Sichuan Committee, the province's top leader from 2008 to 2012.[2]

At the 18th Party Congress held in November 2012, Liu was promoted to the 18th Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party, and named head of the Propaganda Department of the Central Committee, succeeding Liu Yunshan (no relation), who became a member of the Politburo Standing Committee.

In 2017 Qibao met with Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras in Athens, Greece.[5]

On the 100th year anniversary of the October Revolution in 2017, Liu stated that the revolution had "opened an unprecedented new model of modernization in world history" which allowed the USSR to transform from a "state of small peasants" to a world-class industrial power.[6]: 90  According to Liu, the historical achievements of the revolution and the Soviet socialist system "are by no means canceled out by the dissolution of the USSR."[6]: 90 

At the 19th Party Congress held in October 2017, Liu was unable to secure a Politburo seat even though he had not yet reached the conventional retirement at the age of 68. He held onto a seat on the Central Committee, however.[7] On March 14, 2018, he was named one of the vice-chairmen of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.[8]

References

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  1. ^ "Liu Qibao appointed head of Publicity Dept". China Daily. Xinhua. 2012-11-21. Retrieved 2019-06-11.
  2. ^ a b c d e "Jiang Jufeng reelected governor of SW China's Sichuan Province". Xinhua. 2008-01-27. Archived from the original on 2008-03-14. Retrieved 2008-02-23.
  3. ^ a b c d "Liu Qibao". 2013-03-16. Retrieved 2019-06-11.
  4. ^ Zhuang Pinghui (2012-10-04). "Sichuan successes make party secretary Liu Qibao a shining star". Retrieved 2019-06-11.
  5. ^ Lei Xiaoxun (2017-04-28). "Greek PM Tsipras receives Liu Qibao in Athens". China Daily. Retrieved 2019-06-11.
  6. ^ a b Hou, Xiaojia (2024). "China's Shift to Personalistic Rule: Xi Jinping's Centralization of Political Power". In Fang, Qiang; Li, Xiaobing (eds.). China under Xi Jinping: A New Assessment. Leiden University Press. ISBN 9789087284411. JSTOR jj.15136086.
  7. ^ "CPC elects new Central Committee in leadership transition". China Daily. 2017-10-24. Retrieved 2019-06-11.
  8. ^ Zhou Xin (2018-03-14). "24 elected vice chairpersons of 13th CPPCC National Committee". Xinhua. Archived from the original on August 3, 2020. Retrieved 2019-06-11.
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Assembly seats
Preceded by Chairman of Sichuan People's Congress
2008–2013
Succeeded by
Party political offices
Preceded by Head of the
Propaganda Department of the Chinese Communist Party

2012–2017
Succeeded by
Preceded by Communist Party Secretary of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region
2006–2007
Succeeded by
Preceded by Communist Party Secretary of Sichuan Province
2007–2012
Succeeded by