Wang Qishan

Wang Qishan (born July 1948, Shanxi province, China) is a Chinese politician and government official who was an influential member of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)—notably, serving on its Politburo Standing Committee (2012–17) and heading the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI; 2012–17). In 2018 he became vice president of China. He was also mayor of Beijing from 2004 to 2007.

Wang was raised in Tianzhen, Shanxi province, and was the son of an engineering professor. As a young man, he was one of the “educated youth” who was sent to a rural commune near Yan’an, Shaanxi province, where he performed manual labour for three years (1969–71) during the height of the Cultural Revolution. While there he met and became friends with future Chinese president Xi Jinping. After Wang returned from the commune, he attended college, earning (1976) a history degree.

Wang subsequently worked for several years in a variety of research jobs. He joined the CCP in 1983. In 1988 he became involved in the country’s financial sector, first at the Rural Trust and Investment Corp. of China. He quickly moved to the People’s Construction Bank (now China Construction Bank; CCB). He rose through the ranks of leadership there—with a brief hiatus in 1993–94, when he was at the People’s Bank of China—and he led the CCB as its secretary in 1994–97.

From 1997 Wang worked in provincial government, serving first in Guangdong and then in Hainan. He became acting mayor of Beijing in 2003 and mayor a year later. During his tenure in the latter post (2004–07), he spearheaded the city’s preparations for the highly successful 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. Concurrent with his provincial and mayoral postings, Wang’s star was rising in the CCP’s national hierarchy. Beginning as an alternate member of the party’s Central Committee in 1997, he rose in 2002 to become a full member of the committee; he was named a member of the powerful Political Bureau (Politburo) in 2007 and also a vice-premier in 2008. One of his principal Politburo duties at that time was serving as China’s chief economic negotiator with the United States.

After Xi Jinping assumed power in China in 2012, he initiated a major campaign against government corruption, calling on Wang to head the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection. Wang was also named to the CCP Politburo Standing Committee, the country’s top ruling body. From that position of power, Wang’s CCDI began investigating and prosecuting tens of thousands of major and minor government officials for various forms of misconduct and corruption. One prominent case in 2013 led to the conviction of former Chongqing mayor Bo Xilai on a variety of charges, including complicity in an attempted cover-up of his wife’s murder of a British businessman. Wang subsequently pursued Zhou Yongkang, the former head of China’s vast internal security agency, who had a close affiliation with Bo. In 2015 Zhou, who was the highest-ranking official ever to face charges, was found guilty of several crimes and was sentenced to life in prison.

Wang grew increasingly powerful and was seen as a key member of Xi’s inner circle. In 2017, after reaching the CCP’s retirement age, he stepped down from both the CCDI and the Politburo Standing Committee. However, in early 2018 he was named a deputy of the National People’s Congress, and shortly thereafter he became vice president of China.