He Lifeng

In this Chinese name, the family name is He.
He Lifeng
何立峰
He in 2023
Vice Premier of China
Incumbent
Assumed office
12 March 2023
PremierLi Qiang
Director of the Office of the Central Financial and Economic Affairs Commission
Incumbent
Assumed office
October 2023
LeaderXi Jinping
Preceded byLiu He
Chairman of the National Development and Reform Commission
In office
24 February 2017 – 11 March 2023
PremierLi Keqiang
Preceded byXu Shaoshi
Succeeded byZheng Shanjie
Vice Chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference
In office
14 March 2018 – 10 March 2023
ChairmanWang Yang
Personal details
Born (1955-02-04) 4 February 1955 (age 69)
Yongding, Fujian, China
Political partyChinese Communist Party
Alma mater
See list
CabinetLi Qiang Government
Signature
He Lifeng
Chinese何立峰
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinHé Lìfēng
IPA[xɤ̌ lîfə́ŋ]
Yue: Cantonese
JyutpingHo4 Lap6-fung1

He Lifeng (Chinese: 何立峰; pinyin: Hé Lìfēng; born February 1955) is a Chinese economist and politician who has served as vice premier of China since March 2023. He has additionally been a member of the Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party since October 2022, and served as the director of the Office of the Central Financial and Economic Affairs Commission since October 2023.

Earlier in his career, he worked in Fujian province and Tianjin. He has held a number of significant posts, including Party secretary of Fuzhou, party secretary of Xiamen, party secretary of Binhai New Area, deputy party secretary of Tianijn, Chairman of the Tianjin People's Political Consultative Conference, and, since 2014, a deputy director of the NDRC. He served as the chairman of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) from February 2017 to March 2023.

Early life

[edit]

He was born in Yongding County, Fujian into a Hakka family whose ancestral roots are usually traced to Xingning, Guangdong.[1] In August 1973 he went to Yongding County as a sent-down youth. In November 1976, he participated in the construction of the Shixiangtan Hydroelectric Dam. After the resumption of the National College Entrance Examination, he gained admission to the Xiamen University school of economics; he studied finance. He obtained a bachelor and a master's degree in 1982 and 1984 respectively, and a Ph.D. degree through part-time studies in 1998.[1] After graduating he began work in Xiamen as a researcher for the special economic zone.[2] In October, he began working for the Xiamen municipal government, beginning his career in politics.

Local careers

[edit]

He worked in Fujian province for some 25 years. He worked successively in Xiamen, Quanzhou, Fuzhou During this time, he cultivated close ties to CCP General Secretary Xi Jinping, who also worked in Fujian at the time; he reportedly attended Xi's wedding ceremony with Peng Liyuan.[3] In Xiamen he headed the city's finance department (at the time, Xi Jinping was vice mayor of Xiamen). In 1990 he was promoted to party head of a city district. By February 1995 he was made mayor of Quanzhou, then party secretary. He earned a doctorate in economics at around this time. In April 2000, he became Fuzhou party secretary, by December 2001, he joined the Fujian provincial Party Standing Committee.[4]

In May 2005 he was named party secretary of Xiamen. He joined the CCP Central Committee in 2007. In May 2009, he was transferred to Tianjin to become deputy party secretary of the municipality, the head of the working committee of Binhai New Area, and the party secretary of Tanggu District. In January 2013, he was named chairman of the Tianjin People's Political Consultative Conference.[5] During his tenure in Tianjin, he oversaw infrastructure projects to boost Tianjin's economy.[2]

National career

[edit]

In June 2014 he was named deputy Party secretary of the National Development and Reform Commission and also deputy director (minister-level). Since then he has emerged as one of the chief figures in charge of advancing economic reform policies.[6]

In February 2017 he was appointed the Chairman of the National Development and Reform Commission by the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress.[7][3]

Vice premier

[edit]

After the 20th Party National Congress, he was elected as a member of the 20th CCP Politburo. On 12 March 2023, he was appointed a vice premier of the State Council, and became responsible for economic and financial affairs.[2] According to Bloomberg News, he will have all the financial regulators, including the People's Bank of China and the newly created super financial watchdog, under his purview. He will also oversee the property industry as well as the $60 trillion financial sector.[8]

In October 2023, he was formally named as the director of the Office of the CCP Central Financial and Economic Affairs Commission.[9] He was also named as the director of the Office of the Central Financial Commission and the secretary of the Central Financial Work Commission in November.[10][11]

Foreign relations

[edit]
He Lifeng and Zheng Shanjie with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Beijing during Putin's visit to China in May 2024

He has been China's top representative in China's economic relations with several developed economies, having been named the "lead person" in dialogues with the European Union, France, Germany, and the United States.[12] He met with U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen when she visited China in July 2023 and April 2024.[13] He also visited the United States in November 2023 and met with Janet Yellen in San Francisco before the APEC summit.[14]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b Li, Cheng (2016). Chinese Politics in the Xi Jinping Era: Reassessing Collective Leadership. Brookings Institution Press. p. 240. ISBN 978-0-81-572692-0.
  2. ^ a b c Wei, Lingling (25 October 2024). "Americans Who Want to Do Business in China Need to Meet This Man". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 28 October 2024.
  3. ^ a b Yao, Kevin (30 October 2022). "He Lifeng: China's expected new economic tsar has big shoes to fill". Reuters. Retrieved 23 June 2023.
  4. ^ 中共福建省委员会第七届
  5. ^ 何立峰当选天津市政协主席
  6. ^ 天津政协主席何立峰调任国家发改委副主任、党组副书记 Archived 2015-09-29 at the Wayback Machine 人民网
  7. ^ "根据宪法，国务院总理李克强提名国务院秘书长、各部部长、各委员会主任、中国人民银行行长、审计长". 新华网. 2018-03-19. Archived from the original on 2018-03-19. Retrieved 2018-03-19.
  8. ^ "Xi's Vice Premier to Oversee Finance, Housing in Shake-Up". Bloomberg News. 30 March 2023. Retrieved 23 June 2023.
  9. ^ Tang, Frank; Chen, Frank (30 October 2023). "China's Vice-Premier He Lifeng handed increased economic authority, takes over key policymaking role". South China Morning Post. Retrieved 30 October 2023.
  10. ^ "China's He Lifeng named to key post in Central Financial Commission". Reuters. 2023-11-06. Retrieved 2023-11-06.
  11. ^ "报道指副总理何立峰已担任中央金融委员会办公室主任 - RTHK". news.rthk.hk (in Chinese (China)). 2023-11-06. Archived from the original on 2023-11-06. Retrieved 2024-10-06.
  12. ^ Zheng, William (4 October 2023). "Vice-Premier He Lifeng shown to be China's point man on economic ties, reaching trade agreement with Germany". South China Morning Post. Retrieved 8 October 2023.
  13. ^ "Yellen's talks with China's He candid, constructive, comprehensive - US Treasury". Thomson Reuters. Reuters. 8 July 2023. Retrieved 11 July 2023.
  14. ^ "He Lifeng to Visit the US".
Government offices
Preceded by Minister in charge of the National Development and Reform Commission
2017–2023 		Succeeded by
Party political offices
Preceded by Deputy Party Secretary of Tianjin
2009–2013 		Succeeded by
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