Chen Xi (politician)

Chen traces his ancestry to Putian, Fujian province, and was born on 16 September 1953 in the provincial capital Fuzhou. He worked in his youth at a mechanics factory attached to Fuzhou University, working there from 1970 to 1975.^[1] Shortly after the resumption of higher education at the end of the Cultural Revolution, Chen was recommended to attend Tsinghua University as a "Worker-Peasant-Soldier student", where he attended undergraduate studies in chemical engineering and earned a bachelor's degree in 1978. At Tsinghua he was friends with Xi Jinping, who was also attending Tsinghua at the time.^[2]

Chen joined the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in November 1978. After graduating from Tsinghua he returned to Fuzhou University to become a lecturer at the Department of Chemical Engineering. In September 1979 he headed back to Tsinghua where he completed a master's degree in chemical engineering. He stayed at Tsinghua to work for the Communist Party and its affiliated Communist Youth League of China (CYCL) as a political organizer. He served as the director of the Sports Department and deputy secretary of the CYLC Tsinghua Committee from 1982 to 1984, and as its secretary from 1984 to 1990.^[1]

Between 1990 and 1992 he went on a stint at Stanford University as a visiting scholar for chemical engineering research. In 1992, he became the deputy party secretary of the Chemical Engineering Department at Tsinghua University. Beginning in August 1993, he became the deputy secretary of the party committee at Tsinghua, becoming executive deputy secretary two years later. In 2002 he became secretary of the Tsinghua party committee and concurrently chairman of the University Council.^[1]

In November 2008, Chen became Vice Minister of Education and a deputy party secretary of the ministry, leaving his post at Tsinghua shortly thereafter.^[3] In September 2010, Chen was sent to Liaoning to serve as Deputy Communist Party Secretary of the province, where he served for a mere seven months.^[4] In April 2011 Chen became the head of the party branch and vice chairman of the China Association for Science and Technology (CAST), succeeding Deng Nan.^[5]

In April 2013, following the ascension of Xi Jinping to the posts of General Secretary and President, Chen left his post at CAST and was transferred to become executive deputy head of the Organization Department of the Chinese Communist Party.^[6] Chen is widely seen as a confidant and ally of Xi Jinping.^[4]

At the 19th Party Congress in October 2017, Chen was named head of the Organization Department of the Chinese Communist Party, placed in charge of party personnel. As was customary for an Organization Department head, he was given a seat on the 19th Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party. Unusually, however, Chen Xi broke nearly thirty years of party precedent by becoming the president of the Central Party School without holding a seat on the Politburo Standing Committee. While this was seen as a "demotion" of the status of the Central Party School, it was also seen as an elevation of Chen's position.^[7]

After the 20th Party Congress in October 2022, Chen stepped down as a member of the Politburo and as the head of the Organization Department in April 2023, being succeeded by Li Ganjie.^[8] He retained his role as the president of the Central Party School.

Chen was a member of the 19th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, and was a member of the 16th and 17th Central Commissions for Discipline Inspection. Beginning in 2013, he also was a member of the Central Leading Group for Inspection Work.