Cai Qi

Cai Qi (Chinese: 蔡奇; pinyin: Cài Qí; born December 5, 1955) is a Chinese politician, the current Communist Party Secretary of Beijing, and a member of the Politburo of the Communist Party of China. Cai began his career in Fujian province. He has served successively as the mayor of Sanming, the mayor of Quzhou, the Communist Party Secretary of Taizhou, Zhejiang, and mayor of Hangzhou. Beginning in 2010 he served as the Executive Vice Governor of Zhejiang Province, and in 2014 was transferred to Beijing to serve as deputy director of the General Office serving the National Security Commission (rank equivalent of minister).^[1][2]

Largely due to Cai's extensive experience working in Zhejiang province, he is believed to be a political ally of Party General Secretary Xi Jinping. Cai was also known for his extensive use of social media and his unorthodox approach to governance.^[2]

Early career

Cai was born in Youxi County, Fujian province in December 5, 1955.^[3] During the latter years of the Cultural Revolution he worked at a rural commune. He joined the Communist Party of China in 1975. Cai attended Fujian Normal University and graduated in 1978 with a degree in political economics. In the 1980s, Cai served in the General Office of the provincial party organization in Fujian province, gaining a series of rapid promotions. He worked as deputy chief of staff serving provincial leaders, including as secretary to the provincial party chief. Between 1994 and 1997, he pursued a master's degree in law at his alma mater.

In September 1996 Cai took on his first major role in local government as the deputy Party secretary and later mayor of the city of Sanming in Fujian province.^[3] He was transferred to Zhejiang in May 1999 serving as the deputy Party Secretary and Mayor of Quzhou.^[3] Between March 2002 and April 2004 Cai served as Quzhou's party secretary, the top political office of the city.^[3] In April 2004 Cai became party chief of Taizhou, Zhejiang; at the time, Xi Jinping was the party chief of Zhejiang province.^[3] In April 2007, Cai was promoted to the position Mayor of Hangzhou, the provincial capital, also serving as deputy Party Secretary.^[3] In January 2010, he became a member of the provincial Party Standing Committee as head of the party's provincial Organization Department.^[3]

Beijing

In November 2013, Cai became the Executive Vice Governor of Zhejiang province. He made the announcement of his change in jobs on his microblog account.^[4] In March 2014, Cai was said to have been transferred to Beijing to work as the deputy General Office chief of the National Security Commission, a body led by party General Secretary Xi Jinping, though no official announcement was made about this appointment. Given his Zhejiang work experience and his current position and seniority, Cai has been named as a member of the so-called "New Zhijiang Army", i.e., officials who at one point worked under Xi Jinping during his term as Zhejiang party chief.^[5]

After his transfer to Beijing, Cai stopped updating his various social media accounts. The only indication of his whereabouts appeared in news footage at numerous "study sessions" of the Politburo of the Communist Party of China, where he was shown seated next to other minister-level officials, suggesting that he was an official of full provincial-ministerial rank and working for the central party organization. It was later confirmed that he was serving as Deputy Director of the Office of the National Security Commission.^[6]

In October 2016, Cai was appointed acting mayor of Beijing, replacing Wang Anshun; he was confirmed in January 2017.^[6] In May 2017, Cai Qi was appointed party secretary of Beijing. Cai's appointment broke nearly all conventions in post-Cultural Revolution political tradition: he was neither a member nor alternate member of the Central Committee, and took on an office that would, under normal circumstances, be accorded Politburo membership. The move assured him a Politburo seat at the 19th Party Congress.^[7]

Social media

Cai maintained a microblog (weibo) account under the subtitle "Cai Qi, a Bolshevik",^[8] which has been active since May 2010. The account was initially opened under the name Qianshui (潜水; literally, "scuba diving"), but he was eventually 'outed' by internet users. The account is 'followed' by over ten million people; he used it regularly to communicate with ordinary internet users.^[9] As a sub-provincial-level official, Cai was one of the highest-ranking officials to maintain a regular social media presence, though he has not updated his microblog feed since being called to work in Beijing.

During the 2012 National People's Congress, an incident occurred in which vicious dogs allegedly belonging to a state agency were said to be injuring people. After seeing news of the incident reported online, Cai immediately called the agency in question to ask for an explanation, then posted the results of his discussion on his microblog feed. Cai's role in resolving the issue earned him accolades online. On the evening of September 14, 2013, a mother of an ordinary government staffer working for the national revenue agency posted on her microblog feed that her son was expected to partake in heavy drinking with superiors on a regular basis as part of his work and that it was affecting his health. The mother pleaded for attention to the case by then Zhejiang party organization chief Cai Qi. A day later Cai responded to her asking which department her son worked at and vowed publicly "your son doesn't have to drink from now on."^[10]

References

Sporting positions
Preceded by Guo Jinlong	President of Organizing Committee for Winter Olympic Games 2022	Succeeded by
Government offices
Preceded by Wang Anshun	Mayor of Beijing 2016–2017	Succeeded by Chen Jining
Preceded by Sun Zhonghuan	Mayor of Hangzhou 2007–2010	Succeeded by Shao Zhanwei
Party political offices
Preceded by Guo Jinlong	Communist Party Secretary of Beijing 2017–	Incumbent
Preceded by Si Xinliang	Head of the Organization Department of Zhejiang province 2010–2013	Succeeded by Hu Heping