Zhang Lei (politician)

Zhang Lei (Chinese: 张雷; born July 1961) is a Chinese politician who formerly served as Vice Chairman of the Standing Committee of the Liaoning Provincial People's Congress. He holds a bachelor's degree in engineering and spent most of his career in Jiangsu and Liaoning provinces.^[1]

Zhang Lei was born in Huai'an, Jiangsu Province, in July 1961. He began his undergraduate studies at the Department of Basic Sciences at the Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics in September 1978, majoring in mechanical design for faculty preparation, and graduated in August 1982.^[2]

Following graduation, Zhang worked as a designer and youth league cadre at the Machine Tool Branch of Changfeng Machinery Plant in Suzhou, Jiangsu. In December 1984, he became Deputy Secretary and later Secretary of the factory’s Communist Youth League committee. In May 1988, he transitioned into local government, serving as Director of the Office of the Suzhou Municipal Committee of the Communist Youth League, and then as Deputy Secretary of the committee and Chairman of the Suzhou Youth Federation.^[3]

In June 1994, Zhang was appointed deputy director of the Suzhou Electronics Industry Bureau. He concurrently held the position of Factory Director of Suzhou Cable Radio Factory starting in June 1996. From November 1996 to November 1997, he was General Manager, deputy chairman, and Deputy Party Secretary of Suzhou Electronics Holdings (Group) Co., Ltd.^[4]

From 1997 to 2000, Zhang served as Director of the Suzhou Science and Technology Commission and concurrently as deputy director of the Suzhou New District Administrative Committee. In August 2000, he became Chinese Communist Party Deputy Committee Secretary and Mayor of Kunshan, and in August 2001, he was promoted to Chinese Communist Party Committee Secretary. He also served as Secretary of the Party Working Committee of Kunshan Economic and Technological Development Zone and Chairman of the Standing Committee of the Municipal People’s Congress.^[5]

In April 2003, Zhang was appointed Director of the Jiangsu Provincial Department of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation, and in May 2007, concurrently served as President of the Jiangsu Council for the Promotion of International Trade. He was transferred to Taizhou in March 2008, where he served as Party Secretary and later as Chairman of the Standing Committee of the Taizhou Municipal People’s Congress. In July 2014, Zhang was promoted to Vice Governor of Jiangsu Province.^[6]

In March 2017, Zhang was appointed a member of the Standing Committee of the Liaoning Provincial Committee of the Chinese Communist Party and Vice Governor of Liaoning.^[7] He also served as Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Government Party Leadership Group, Secretary of the Party Working Committee of Shenfu New Area, and concurrently as President of the Liaoning Administrative Institute.^[8]

From November 2018 to January 2019, he concurrently served as Party Secretary of Shenyang, and from January 2019 to October 2021, as Shenyang Party Secretary and member of the Standing Committee of the Liaoning Provincial Party Committee.^[9] He later served as Vice Chairman and Deputy Secretary of the Party Leadership Group of the Standing Committee of the Liaoning Provincial People’s Congress.^[10][11]

Zhang Lei was a representative to the 16th, 18th, and 19th National Congresses of the Chinese Communist Party.^[5]