Han Zheng

Han Zheng (born 22 April 1954) is a Chinese politician who since 2023 has served as the vice president of China. He previously served as the first-ranking vice premier of China between 2018 and 2023, and as a member of the Politburo Standing Committee of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) between 2017 and 2022.

Han served as Communist Party deputy secretary and mayor of Shanghai between 2003 and 2012. In November 2012, he was promoted to become the Party Secretary of Shanghai, the top political post in the city, and also gained a seat on the CCP Politburo.

Early career
He was born in Shanghai on 22 April 1954, but traces his ancestry to Cixi, in neighbouring Zhejiang province. He was a sent-down youth during the Cultural Revolution, working at a collective farm in Chongming County, Shanghai. He later worked at a warehouse of a lifting installation company, later working at the company's supply and marketing division. He additionally served as a deputy secretary of the Communist Youth League of China (CYLC) between 1975 and 1980. He joined the Chinese Communist Party in 1979.

He then worked at the Shanghai Chemical Equipment Industry company in an administrative role between 1980 and 1982. He was the secretary of the CYLC committee at the Chemical Industry Bureau of the Shanghai Municipal People's Government between 1982 and 1986, and the deputy CCP secretary of the Shanghai School of Chemical Engineering between 1986 and 1987. He worked as the CCP secretary and deputy director of the Shanghai No. 6 Rubber Shoes Factory between 1987 and 1988; during this time, he was praised by then Shanghai mayor Zhu Rongji.

He was the CCP secretary and deputy director of the Dazhonghua Rubber Plant between 1988 and 1990. Between 1983 and 1985, he additionally attended a two-year college program in Fudan University, and later completed an undergraduate degree in politics at the East China Normal University between 1985 and 1987 through part-time studies.

In June 1990, Han officially entered the CYLC Shanghai Committee, and would rise to become its deputy secretary in charge of day-to-day work, then elevated to secretary in 1991. In November 1992 he was named governor and deputy CCP secretary 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 in international political economy from East China Normal University between 1991 and 1994 and earned the title of senior economist.

Career in Shanghai
In July 1995, Han was named deputy secretary-general of the Shanghai Municipal People's Government, during which he was made the deputy CCP secretary of the Municipal Comprehensive Economic Work Committee, the director of the e City Planning Commission, and the director of the Securities Management Office. In December 1997, he was named a member of the municipal CCP 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 CCP Secretary of Shanghai.

Han joined the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party 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 CCP 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.

On 25 September 2006, Han became the acting CCP Committee Secretary 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 secretary in Shanghai lasted a mere five months, when on 24 March 2007, Xi Jinping was 'parachuted' into the office of Shanghai Party Secretary from the same post in the neighbouring province of Zhejiang. Xi later became the member of CCP Politburo Standing Committee after 17th Party Congress in October 2007. Han proved to be a 'political survivor' however, having served under party secretaries Chen Liangyu, Xi Jinping, and Yu Zhengsheng in the Mayor's office. Due to his long career in Shanghai, Han is considered to be a member of the Shanghai clique. Han assumed the party secretary post in November 2012, shortly after the conclusion of the 18th CCP National Congress, and also gained a seat on the 18th Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party.

First Vice Premier
Han was chosen to be a member of the 19th CCP Politburo Standing Committee, China's top decision-making body, at the first plenary session of the 19th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party on 25 October 2017. In March 2018 the National People's Congress appointed him as the first-ranked vice premier of the State Council in Li Keqiang Government.

Hong Kong
Han succeeded Zhang Dejiang as the leader of the Central Coordination Group for Hong Kong and Macau Affairs in April 2018, making him the CCP's top leader in regards to Hong Kong and Macau affairs. The Central Coordination Group was later upgraded to a Central Leading Group in 2020.

Han was a key figure in the Chinese leadership's response during the 2019–2020 Hong Kong protests. According to a Reuters report in 2019, shortly after the storming of the Legislative Council Complex, Han Zheng authorized Hong Kong chief executive Carrie Lam to directly communicate with his office, rather than go through the Hong Kong Liaison Office. It also reported that Han summoned Lam to the Bauhinia Villa, used by the Chinese government for talks with Hong Kong officials, on 12 June. There, Lam proposed the suspension of the extradition bill which triggered the protests, which Han then agreed to after talking to other leaders in China.

In March 2021, Han said that electoral reforms in Hong Kong, designed to reduce the power of district councillors and to increase the power of the election committee, were being implemented to "prevent subversion."

Vice President
After the 20th CCP National Congress in October 2022, Han Zheng retired from the Politburo Standing Committee, as well as the broader Central Committee, at the age of 66. He was subsequently elected as a deputy to the 14th National People's Congress (NPC), the only departing PSC member to do so. On March 10, 2023, Han Zheng was elected during the first session of the 14th NPC as the vice president of China, succeeding Wang Qishan.

As vice president, Han has taken part in diplomatic activities. Han was President Xi's special representative at the coronation of Charles III and Camilla in May. In August, Han met with British foreign secretary James Cleverly in Beijing. He additionally attended the general debate of the seventy-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly, giving a speech on 21 September. Han also met with US secretary of state Antony Blinken on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly. In May 2024, Han have met with Russian president Vladimir Putin in Harbin, where both Han and Putin attended the opening ceremony of 8th China-Russia expo.

Family
Han Zheng is married to Wang Ming, who reportedly once served as a vice chair of the Shanghai Charity Foundation. They have one daughter.