Yuan was born in
Hanshou County,
Hunan Province. He graduated from the department of law of
Peking University, and obtained a master's degree in law from the
China University of Political Science and Law in 1990, as well as a doctoral degree in management from the international business school of
Hunan University. Yuan joined the central organization of the
Communist Youth League (CYL) shortly after graduating from Peking University. He worked there for 17 years. In October 1997, Yuan was named a standing committee member of the
Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, taking up his first major role outside of the CYL. At the CCDI he became widely known for announcing the results of the investigation into the "Yuanhua scandal" in
Xiamen involving tycoon
Lai Changxing. In 2001 he was transferred to work in
Shaanxi province as deputy party chief. Beginning in January 2004 he was named party chief of
Xi'an. While in Xi'an Yuan was known to have released a white paper about the city's development, and became one of the "most watched municipal party chiefs in the country." In 2006, he succeeded
Chen Deming as the Governor of Shaanxi. He seemed destined for even higher office. On May 31, 2010, Yuan was named party chief of the coal-producing neighboring province of Shanxi. Yuan was abruptly transferred out of office as party chief of Shanxi in September 2014 during the "great Shanxi political earthquake". He was then named one of the deputy chiefs of the Office for Rural Work, presumably maintaining his full provincial rank until October 2017. He has been an alternate member of the
16th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party and a full member of the
17th and
18th Central Committees. ==Works==