Sun Chunlan

Sun was born on 24 May 1950 in Raoyang County, Hebei. She enrolled in the Anshan Industrial Technology Academy in Liaoning in 1965. After graduating with a degree in mechanics in 1969, Sun worked at Anshan Clock Factory, which made watches. There she rose from the shop floor to membership of the factory's CCP branch in 1971, which managed the operations of the factory. She joined the Chinese Communist Party in May 1973, during the latter stages of the Cultural Revolution. In 1974, she became the Communist Youth League secretary of the Light Industry Bureau of Anshan City. She was then transferred to the Anshan Textiles Factory to work as a manager in 1977, working there until 1988. In 1988 she became the chair of the women's federation of Anshan, working there until 1991. == Career ==

In 1990, Sun was transferred to work in the organs reporting directly to the provincial party leadership, paving the way for further career advancement. She became the deputy head of the Workers' Union of Liaoning in 1991, and the head of the Women's Association of Liaoning in 1993. In 1994 she became head of the Workers' Union of Liaoning, the provincial trade union federation, a year later she began sitting on the Liaoning provincial Party Standing Committee; achieving such a feat at age 45 was rare. In 1997, Sun was named deputy party secretary of Liaoning and president of the provincial party school. Fujian In a December 2009 re-shuffle, Sun Chunlan was named party secretary of Fujian Province, the first female to take such a high-level secretaryship since Wan Shaofen, Party Secretary of Jiangxi in the 1980s. Provincial party chief positions are of high significance and are some of the most powerful positions. Tianjin After the 18th Party Congress held in November 2012, Sun became the party secretary of Tianjin municipality, China's richest provincial-level jurisdiction by GDP at the time, taking the post vacated by Zhang Gaoli, who became a member of the Politburo Standing Committee. As Party Secretary of Tianjin, Sun joined the elite ranks of the Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party as one of the two women on the body (the other was Vice-Premier Liu Yandong). She additionally became the first female party chief of a direct-controlled municipality in party history. United Front Work Department After the investigation and dismissal of former Hu Jintao aide Ling Jihua as head of the United Front Work Department, Sun was named as head of the department on December 31, 2014. Sun was the first United Front chief to hold a concurrent Politburo seat since Ding Guangen. Her post in Tianjin was succeeded on an interim basis by Mayor Huang Xingguo. In 2015, Wang Zhengwei, Vice-chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, was named deputy head of the department, assisting Sun, creating a unique situation where two of the top leaders of the United Front were held by "deputy national leader" ranked figures. Sun is a member of the 19th Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party. She was also an alternate of the 15th and 16th Central Committees of the Chinese Communist Party, and a full member of the 17th, 18th and 19th Central Committees. Vice Premier In October 2017, after the 19th Party Congress, Sun was reappointed as a member of the Politburo. In March 2018, Sun was appointed as the Vice Premier of China. She was awarded the Gold Olympic Order after the 2022 Winter Olympics for her responsibility for the anti-COVID management of the Olympic Winter Games. According to The New York Times, Sun Chunlan become a target of Chinese netizens expressing their anger towards the Zero-COVID policy. Sun Chunlan retired from Politburo after 20th Party Congress, and as Vice Premier in March 2023. == Post-retirement ==

On 9 November 2023, Sun Chunlan became the president of the International Confucian Association. == References ==