Wang Zhengwei

Wang Zhengwei
王正伟
Chairman of Ningxia
In office May 12, 2007 – April 23, 2013
Preceded by	Ma Qizhi
Succeeded by	Liu Hui
Personal details
Born	June 1957 (age 59)
Political party	Communist Party of China
Alma mater	Ningxia University

Wang Zhengwei (Chinese: 王正伟, Xiao'erjing: وْا ﺟْﻊ وِ; born June 1957) is a Chinese politician, economist, and expert on Islamic affairs. Of Hui ethnic heritage, Wang served as the Chairman of the State Ethnic Affairs Commission between 2013 and 2016, and Chairman (Governor) of the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region between 2007 and 2013. He is currently a Vice-Chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.

Biography

Wang was born in Tongxin County, Ningxia, to a Hui Chinese family. After graduating from university, he went back to his hometown to work as an accountant and as a local Communist Youth League organizer. After the Cultural Revolution, he worked on hydraulics projects for a year. He entered Ningxia University in 1977 and majored in Chinese. He joined the Communist Party of China in 1981.

After graduating, he became a propaganda official, serving in his home county. In January 1984 he was sent to work for the autonomous region's party organization in Yinchuan, where he climbed through the ranks with a series of administrative and research positions. He eventually was promoted the head the regional propaganda department and entered the regional party standing committee as a result. He also served as party chief of Yinchuan.^[1]

Wang was long involved in Hui ethnic affairs, and has written many papers on the economy and culture of the Hui people. In 1988 he was sent as part of a delegation to Turkey to participate in an international Islamic culture conference. Wang made a name for himself as a resident expert in the economy of predominantly Islamic states, conducting extensive research on middle eastern countries.^[2] In September 2000 Wang was admitted into the Ethnic Affairs Institute of the Minzu University of China where he earned a doctorate studying the economic structure of Muslim countries.

In 2004, Wang became Executive Vice Chairman of the Ningxia regional government, and on May 12, 2007 was named acting chairman of the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, confirmed in January 2008.^[3]

After the 12th National People's Congress in 2013, Wang was appointed to head the State Ethnic Affairs Commission. During this time he had been pushing for legislation concerning halal certification.^[4] He was also named a Vice-Chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, ascending to sub-national ranks. On April 2, 2015, Wang was named deputy head of the United Front Work Department, creating an unprecedented situation where two leaders of the department (alongside Sun Chunlan) were of sub-national rank.^[5]

Wang is an alternate member of the 16th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (elevated to full membership during the 4th conference of the committee), and a full member of the 17th and 18th Central Committees. He is also the chairman of Ningxia Social Science Association, a member of the Chinese Ethnic Writers Association and a member of the Ningxia Writers Association.

References

1. "崔波同志接替王正伟同志担任银川市委书记". 新浪网. Retrieved 2015-04-15.
2. "王正伟代理宁夏回族自治区主席郝林海任副主席 -". 中国网. Retrieved 2015-04-15.
3. "宁夏回族自治区政府主席王正伟". 大公网. Retrieved 2015-04-15.
4. "Regulating halal food is creating headaches for the government". The Economist. 8 October 2016. Retrieved 8 October 2016.
5. Chan, Minnie (2013-03-20). "Ethnic Affairs Boss Faces Brick Wall". South China Morning Post. Beijing. Retrieved 2013-03-26.

External links

• (Chinese) Wang Zhengwei's profile at people.com.cn