Newly-elected members of the Standing Committee of the Shandong Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) met the public on June 28, 2007, drawing the curtain on the nationwide reelection of provincial Party committees that began in October last year.

During the reelection, a group of young officials, in their forties and fifties, entered the core provincial-level leadership in Party committees and in local governments. Zhao Leji, 50, now Secretary of the CPC Shaanxi Provincial Committee, is the youngest provincial Party chief in China, and Zhou Qiang, 47, Governor of Hunan Province, is the youngest provincial governor. Zhou was formerly First Secretary of the Secretariat of the Central Committee of the Communist Youth League of China.

Prior to the 17th CPC National Congress which began on October 15, much had been done of improving inner-Party democracy and electing younger local Party and government top leaders. The result is that 12 secretaries of the newly-elected provincial-level Party committees (39 percent of the total) and 11 provincial-level governors (35.5 percent) were born in the 1950s. According to reliable sources, secretaries of the provincial-level Party committees in China now have an average age of 58.39 years.

According to the regulations of the CPC Central Committee, provincial-level Party secretaries and governors may stay in office until 65. However, of the 62 reelected provincial Party secretaries and governors, 30 (nearly 50 percent) are below 60 years old with a few younger than 50.
 
In the first half of 2006, the CPC Central Committee issued a special regulation regarding the suitable age of senior officials, stipulating that the secretary of a provincial-level Party committee and a provincial-level governor (who is concurrently deputy Party secretary) may be of the age of 65, secretary of the discipline committee 63, and others in the provincial-level Party committee and government leadership 60.

During the reelection, the CPC Central Committee reaffirmed that a provincial-level Party committee and government should include three members younger than 50 and one of around 45 to diversify the age range within its ranks.

Appendix: Ages of Provincial-level Party Committee Secretaries and Governors
 
At or Under 50

Zhou Qiang, born in April 1960, Governor of Hunan.
Wang Zhengwei, born in June 1957, Acting Chairman of Ningxia.
Zhao Leji, born in March 1957, Party Chief of Shaanxi Committee.

51 to 60

Wang Qishan, born in July 1948, Mayor of Beijing.
Xi Jinping, born in June 1953, Party Chief of Shanghai.
Han Zheng, born in 1954, Mayor of Shanghai.
Wang Yang, born in 1955, Party Chief of Chongqing.
Guo Gengmao, born in December 1950, Governor of Hebei.
Zhang Baoshun, born in February 1950, Party Chief of Shanxi.
Yu Youjun, born in January 1953, Governor of Shanxi.
Yang Jing, born in December 1953, Chairman of Inner Mongolia.
Li Keqiang, born in July 1955, Party Chief of Liaoning.
Wang Min, born in March 1950, Party Chief of Jilin.
Han Changfu, born in October 1954, Governor of Jilin.
Li Yuanchao, born in November 1950, Party Chief of Jiangsu.
Zhao Hongzhu, born in July 1947, Party Chief of Zhejiang.
Guo Jinlong, born in July 1947, Party Chief of Anhui.
Lu Zhangong, born in May 1952, Party Chief of Fujian.
Meng Jianzhu, born in July 1947, Party Chief of Jiangxi.
Wu Xinxiong, born in October 1949, Governor of Jiangxi.
Zhang Chunxian, born in 1953, Party Chief of Hunan.
Luo Baoming, born in October 1952, Governor of Hainan.
Liu Qibao, born in January 1953, Party Chief of Guangxi.
Jiang Jufeng, born in October 1948, Governor of Sichuan.
Qin Guangrong, born in December 1950, Governor of Yunnan.
Zhang Qingli, born in January 1951, Party Chief of Tibet.
Yuan Chunqing, born in March 1952, Governor of Shaanxi.
Xu Shousheng, born in January 1953, Governor of Gansu.
Qiang Wei, born in March 1953, Party Chief of Qinghai.
Song Xiuyan, born in October 1955, Governor of Qinghai.

61 and Above

Liu Qi, born in November 1942, Party Chief of Beijing.
Zhang Gaoli, born in November 1946, Party Chief of Tianjin.
Dai Xianglong, born in October 1944, Mayor of Tianjin.
Wang Hongju, born in October 1945, Mayor of Chongqing.
Bai Keming, born in October 1943, Party Chief of Hebei.
Chu Bo, born in October 1944, Party Chief of Inner Mongolia.
Zhang Wenyue, born in October 1944, Governor of Liaoning.
Qian Yunlu, born in October 1944, Party Chief of Heilongjiang.
Zhang Zuoji, born in January 1945, Governor of Heilongjiang.
Liang Baohua, born in November 1945, Governor of Jiangsu.
Lu Zushan, born in November 1946, Governor of Zhejiang.
Wan Jinshan, born in February 1945, Governor of Anhui.
Huang Xiaojing, born in February 1946, Governor of Fujian.
Li Jianguo, born in April 1946, Party Chief of Shandong.
Han Yuqun, born in 1943, Governor of Shandong.
Xu Guangchun, born in November 1944, Party Chief of Henan.
Li Chengyu, born in August 1946, Governor of Henan.
Yu Zhengsheng, born in April 1945, Party Chief of Hubei.
Luo Qingquan, born in November 1945, Governor of Hubei.
Zhang Dejiang, born in November 1946, Party Chief of Guangdong.
Huang Huahua, born in October 1946, Governor of Guangdong.
Wei Liucheng, born in August 1946, Party Chief of Hainan.
Lu Bing, born in October 1944, Chairman of Guangxi.
Du Qinglin, born in November 1946, Party Chief of Sichuan.
Shi Zongyuan, born in July 1946, Party Chief of Guizhou.
Lin Shusen, born in December 1946, Governor of Guizhou.
Bai Enpei, born in September, 1946, Party Chief of Yunnan.
Qiangba Puncog, born in May 1947, Chairman of Tibet.
Lu Hao, born in April 1947, Party Chief of Gansu.
Chen Jianguo, born in July 1945, Party Chief of Ningxia.
Wang Lequan, born in December 1944, Party Chief of Xinjiang.
Ismail Tiliwaldi, born in November 1944, Chairman of Xinjiang.

Click here for a detailed list of local Party and government heads and links to their respective profiles.

(China.org.cn by Chen Xia, October 16, 2007)