He Lifeng

He Lifeng (born February 1955) is a Chinese economist and politician who has served as vice premier of China since March 2023. He has additionally been a member of the Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party since October 2022, and served as the director of the Office of the Central Financial and Economic Affairs Commission since October 2023.

Earlier in his career, he worked in Fujian province and Tianjin. He has held a number of significant posts, including Party secretary of Fuzhou, party secretary of Xiamen, party secretary of Binhai New Area, deputy party secretary of Tianijn, Chairman of the Tianjin People's Political Consultative Conference, and, since 2014, a deputy director of the NDRC. He served as the chairman of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) from February 2017 to March 2023.

Early life
He was born in Yongding County, Fujian into a Hakka family whose ancestral roots are usually traced to Xingning, Guangdong. In August 1973 he went to Yongding County as a sent-down youth. In November 1976, he participated in the construction of the Shixiangtan Hydroelectric Dam. After the resumption of the National College Entrance Examination, He gained admission to the Xiamen University school of economics; he studied finance. He obtained a bachelor and a master's degree in 1982 and 1984 respectively, and a Ph.D. degree through part-time studies in 1998. After graduating he began work in Xiamen as a researcher for the special economic zone. In October, he began working for the Xiamen municipal government, beginning his career in politics.

Local careers
He worked in Fujian province for some 25 years. He worked successively in Xiamen, Quanzhou, Fuzhou During this time, he cultivated close ties to CCP General Secretary Xi Jinping, who also worked in Fujian at the time; he reportedly attended Xi's wedding ceremony with Peng Liyuan. In Xiamen he headed the city's finance department (at the time, Xi Jinping was vice mayor of Xiamen). In 1990 he was promoted to party head of a city district. By February 1995 he was made mayor of Quanzhou, then party secretary. He earned a doctorate in economics at around this time. In April 2000, he became Fuzhou party secretary, by December 2001, he joined the Fujian provincial Party Standing Committee.

In May 2005 he was named party secretary of Xiamen. He joined the CCP Central Committee in 2007. In May 2009, he was transferred to Tianjin to become deputy party secretary of the municipality, the head of the working committee of Binhai New Area, and the party secretary of Tanggu District. In January 2013, he was named chairman of the Tianjin People's Political Consultative Conference.

National career
In June 2014 he was named deputy Party secretary of the National Development and Reform Commission and also deputy director (minister-level). Since then He has emerged as one of the chief figures in charge of advancing economic reform policies.

In February 2017 he was appointed as the Chairman of the National Development and Reform Commission by the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress.

Vice premier
After the 20th Party National Congress, he was elected as a member of the 20th CCP Politburo. On 12 March 2023, he was appointed as a vice premier of the State Council in the Li Qiang Government. According to Bloomberg, he will have all the financial regulators, including the People's Bank of China and the newly created super financial watchdog, under his purview. He will also oversee the property industry as well as the $60 trillion financial sector.

In October 2023, he was formally named as the director of the Office of the CCP Central Financial and Economic Affairs Commission. He was also named as the director of the Office of the Central Financial Commission and the secretary of the Central Financial Work Commission in November.

Foreign relations
He has been China's top representative in China's economic relations with several developed economies, having been named the "lead person" in dialogues with the European Union, France, Germany, and the United States.

He met with U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen when she visited China in July 2023 and April 2024. He also visited the United States in November 2023 and met with Janet Yellen in San Francisco before the APEC summit.