Wang Qishan

Wang Qishan was born in 1948 in Tianjin. He studied history at Northwest University in Xi'an. He held successive positions in finance and provincial administration, including at the State Council's Development Research Centre, the People's Construction Bank of China, and as Deputy Governor of Hainan Province. During the 1997–1998 Asian financial crisis, he oversaw resolution of Guangdong's financial sector risks, notably the collapse of Guangdong International Trust and Investment Corporation. He served as Mayor of Beijing from 2003 to 2007, directing the city's SARS response and preparations for the 2008 Olympic Games. From 2008 to 2013 he served as Executive Vice Premier with responsibility for finance and commerce, and co-chaired the US–China Strategic and Economic Dialogue.

At the 18th Party Congress in 2012, Wang was elected to the Politburo Standing Committee and appointed Secretary of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, a position he held until 2017. In that role, he served as the principal operational architect of Xi Jinping's anti-corruption campaign, directing disciplinary investigations into more than one million officials at all levels of the Party and state apparatus, and driving institutional reforms that culminated in the establishment of the National Supervisory Commission in 2018. Following the 19th Party Congress in 2017, Wang stepped down from the Standing Committee. In March 2018 he was appointed Vice President of the People's Republic of China.