Han Zheng

Early career

He was born in Shanghai, but traces his ancestry to Cixi, in neighbouring Zhejiang province. He began work as a labourer at a warehouse in the latter years of the Cultural Revolution. He joined the Communist Party of China in 1979. He then worked at a chemical equipment company in an administrative role. Beginning in 1986, Han began working as a senior administrator at the municipal chemical engineering college, then worked as party chief at the Shanghai Rubber Shoe Factory. By 1988, Han oversaw the party organization at the Shanghai Greater China Rubber Shoe Factory, and was praised by then Shanghai mayor Zhu Rongji.

In June 1990, Han officially entered the Communist Youth League organization of Shanghai, and would rise to become its deputy secretary in charge of day-to-day work, then elevated to secretary (head) in 1991. In November 1992 he was named governor of Luwan District. During his tenure in the district, Han spearheaded the Huaihai Road revitalization initiative, transforming the street to a glamorous shopping destination. Han also focused on fixing the ecology of the district and expanding its green spaces. He then obtained a master's degree from East China Normal University and earned the title of senior economist.

In July 1995, Han was named deputy secretary-general of the Shanghai municipal government, during which he was in charge of a committee on the economy, the municipal planning commission, and the director of the office in charge of securities regulations. In December 1997, he was named a member of the municipal Party Standing Committee for the first time, entering sub-provincial ranks. In February 1998 he was named vice-mayor of Shanghai; in May 2002 he was named Deputy Party Secretary of Shanghai.

Han joined the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China at the 16th Party Congress in 2002. In 2003 he was named the Mayor of Shanghai at age 48, the youngest Mayor the city has seen in fifty years. A vocal advocate of the Shanghai real estate boom, Han has a largely positive image with the Shanghai citizenry for his openness and transparency. However, because he served under Chen Liangyu, the CPC Shanghai Secretary at the time, Han supported many of Chen's policies, notably those favouring Shanghai's regional development, in contrast to a more balanced approach favoured by the national leadership.

Leading Shanghai

On 25 September 2006, Han became the acting Communist Party Chief of Shanghai after the dismissal of Chen Liangyu over corruption probes during the Shanghai pension scandal. With what were believed to be stern messages sent by Party general secretary Hu Jintao, Han led a municipal task force to crack down on the corruption in Shanghai, and has since then been believed to be a Hu loyalist. His tenure as the interim party chief in Shanghai lasted a mere five months, when on 24 March 2007, Xi Jinping was 'parachuted' into the office of Shanghai Party Secretary from his the same post in the neighbouring province of Zhejiang. Xi later became the top leader of China. Han proved to be a 'political survivor' however, having served under party chiefs Chen Liangyu, Xi Jinping, and Yu Zhengsheng in the Mayor's office.

Han assumed the party chief post in November 2012, shortly after the conclusion of the 18th Party Congress, and also gained a seat on the 18th Politburo of the Communist Party of China.