Li Xi (politician)

Li Xi was born on 16 October 1956 in Liangdang County, Gansu province. He was sent to the Yunping People’s Commune in Liangdang County in 1975 as a "sent-down youth". He became a clerk at the Liangdang County Party Committee's Culture and Education Bureau in 1976, and enrolled in the Northwest Normal University to receive undergraduate education in Chinese language and literature. Li became a member of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in January 1982, and graduated from university later that year.^[1][2]

Li started his career working as a mishu in the provincial propaganda department of the Gansu Provincial Party Committee in 1982. In 1985, he became a mishu in the office of the Gansu Party Secretary Li Ziqi. Joined the provincial organization department in Gansu in 1986 as an official, later becoming the deputy division head in 1987, and the division head in 1990, working there in 1995. Li was appointed as the Party Secretary of Xigu District of the provincial capital Lanzhou in 1995, and later became the director of the provincial organization department in 1996. In 1999, he became the Deputy Party Secretary of Lanzhou, and was later appointed as the Party secretary of Zhangye prefecture in 2001. In 2004, during his tenure in Zhangye, Li attended a four-month mid-career training program offered by the Central Party School. In 2004, he briefly became the secretary-general of the Gansu Provincial Party Committee for a few months.^[1]

In 2004, Li was transferred to Shaanxi, where he became the secretary-general of the Provincial Party Committee and a member of the Provincial Standing Committee. In 2006, Li became the Party secretary of Yan'an, the capital of Shaanxi. Yan'an is of special significance to the Communist Party as it is the site of Mao's revolutionary base after the end of the Long March.^[1] In 2008, he enrolled in the School of Economics and Management at Tsinghua University in Beijing, gaining a Master of Business Administration via part-time studies in 2011.^[1]

In 2011, he was transferred to Shanghai to serve as the Director of the municipality's Organization Department, and later Deputy Party secretary. On 5 May 2014, he was transferred again to Liaoning province in Northeast China, and was appointed Acting Governor and Deputy Party secretary of the province, replacing outgoing governor Chen Zhenggao.^[3][4] He was confirmed by the provincial legislature as Governor later that year and served as governor until 8 May 2015.^[5][6] On 4 May 2015, he succeeded Wang Min as Communist Party Secretary of Liaoning, becoming first-in-charge of the province.^[7]

Li was an alternate member of the 17th and the 18th Central Committees of the Chinese Communist Party, served as a full member of the 19th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, and currently serves as a full member of the 20th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party.^[3]

At the 19th Party Congress, Li Xi was named a member of the Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party. On October 28, 2017, shortly after the party congress, Li was transferred to take over the politically important southern province of Guangdong from Hu Chunhua as provincial party secretary.^[8] Following his ascension to the Politburo Standing Committee, Li was succeeded by Huang Kunming on October 28, 2022, as the Party Secretary of Guangdong.^[9]

In October 2022, following the first plenary session of the 20th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, Li was appointed to the 20th Politburo Standing Committee of the Chinese Communist Party.^[10] Li also succeeded Zhao Leji as Secretary of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection.