Chen Xi | |
---|---|
陈希 | |
Executive Deputy Head of the Organization Department of the Communist Party of China | |
Assumed office April 2013 |
|
Head | Zhao Leji |
Preceded by | Shen Yueyue |
Personal details | |
Born | March 1953 (age 63–64) Putian, Fujian, China |
Political party | Communist Party of China |
Alma mater |
Fuzhou University Tsinghua University |
Chen Xi (Chinese: 陈希; born September 1953) is a Chinese politician currently serving as the executive deputy head of the Organization Department of the Communist Party of China (rank equivalent of minister). Chen is a member of the 18th Central Committee.
Chen traces his ancestry to Putian, Fujian province, and was born in the provincial capital Fuzhou. He worked in his youth at a mechanics factory attached to Fuzhou University. Shortly after the resumption of higher education at the end of the Cultural Revolution, Chen was recommended to attend the prestigious Tsinghua University as a "Worker-Peasant-Soldier student", where he earned a bachelor's degree. At Tsinghua he was friends with Xi Jinping, who was also attending Tsinghua at the time.
Chen joined the Communist Party in November 1978. After graduating from Tsinghua he returned to Fuzhou University to become a lecturer. In September 1979 he headed back to Tsinghua where he completed a Masters of Science degree. He stayed at Tsinghua to work for the Communist Party and its affiliated Youth League as a political organizer. Between 1990 and 1992 he went on a stint at Stanford University as a visiting scholar. Beginning in August 1993, he became the deputy chief of the party organization at Tsinghua, becoming executive deputy chief two years later. In 2002 he became head of the Tsinghua party organization.
In November 2008, Chen became Vice Minister of Education, leaving his post at Tsinghua shortly thereafter. 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. 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.