Zhou Qiang

Zhou Qiang
周强
President and Chief Justice of the Supreme People's Court
Incumbent
Assumed office 15 March 2013
Deputy	Shen Deyong
Preceded by	Wang Shengjun
Communist Party Secretary of Hunan
In office 25 April 2010 – 20 March 2013
Deputy	Xu Shousheng (governor)
Preceded by	Zhang Chunxian
Succeeded by	Xu Shousheng
First Secretary of the Communist Youth League of China
In office June 1998 – November 2006
Preceded by	Li Keqiang
Succeeded by	Hu Chunhua
Personal details
Born	April 1960 (age 56) Huangmei County, Hubei
Nationality	Chinese
Political party	Communist Party of China

Zhou Qiang (Chinese: 周强; pinyin: Zhōu Qiáng; born April 1960) is the Chief Justice and President of the Supreme People's Court of China. Previously, he served as the secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Hunan committee, first-in-charge of the central Chinese province.^[1] He served as the province's governor between 2007 and 2010. Zhou also served as the First Secretary of the Communist Youth League of China between 1998 and 2006.

Life and career

Born in Huangmei County, Hubei Province, Zhou grew up during the Cultural Revolution. In 1978, he was part of the first batch of students admitted through the National College Entrance Examinations to the Southwest University of Political Science & Law. Zhou obtained a master's degree in law in 1986. He joined the Communist Party of China (CPC) during his studies, in 1983.

In November 1995, he was elected to be the secretary of the central secretariat of the Chinese Communist Youth League (CYL) at the 4th plenary session of the 13th CYL central committee. In June 1998, he was elevated to first secretary of the CYL central secretariat, and was re-elected in July 2003. In September 2006, Zhou was appointed as a standing committee member and vice secretary of the CPC Hunan committee.

On September 30, he became the acting governor of Hunan, appointed by the standing committee of the 10th Hunan People's Congress. In December 2006, he resigned as the first secretary of the central secretariat of the CYL. On February 3, 2007, Zhou was confirmed as the governor of Hunan, and was re-elected on January 24, 2008. On April 25, 2010, Zhou, 50, was appointed Communist Party Secretary of Hunan, becoming one of the youngest provincial party chiefs in the country.^[2] His rise to power is comparable to that of then-Party general secretary Hu Jintao and then-Vice-Premier Li Keqiang; all three men had background in the Communist Youth League of China.

In March 2013, the National People's Congress installed Zhou as the President of the Supreme People's Court of the People's Republic of China. Zhou has made statements favouring the promotion of rule of law and is expected to support CPC general secretary Xi Jinping's stated ambition to make the court system in China fairer.^[3]

Zhou is currently a member of the 18th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China.^[4] He was previously a member of the 16th and 17th Central Committees.

References