Zhou Qiang

Zhou Qiang
周强
President of the Supreme People's Court
Incumbent
Assumed office 15 March 2013
Deputy	Shen Deyong
Preceded by	Wang Shengjun
Secretary of the Communist Party of China 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	(1960-04-25) 25 April 1960 Huangmei County, Hubei
Nationality	Chinese
Political party	Communist Party of China
Alma mater	Southwest University of Political Science & Law

Zhou Qiang (Chinese: 周强; pinyin: Zhōu Qiáng; born 25 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 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 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 February 2007, Zhou was appointed governor of Hunan, after a five-month period that saw him made a standing committee member and vice secretary of the CPC Hunan committee (September 3), and then acting governor of Hunan (September 30), appointed by the standing committee of the 10th Hunan People's Congress; he resigned as first secretary of the central secretariat of the CYL in December.

He was re-elected governor of Hunan on January 24, 2008.

On April 25, 2010, Zhou, then aged 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 NPC installed Zhou as the President of the Supreme People's Court.

Like other top Chinese leaders, Zhou spoke often of promoting the 'rule of law' and was thought aligned with CPC general secretary Xi Jinping's stated ambition to make the court system in China fairer.^[3] Indeed, in his first few years in office, Zhou overturned several unjust cases, including the wrongful execution of Nie Shubin in 1995; granted judges more independence; and restricted local officials’ influence over court rulings, despite that ultimately courts at all levels had to answer to the party leadership.^[4]

But in 2017, speaking at a Supreme People's Court meeting on January 14, Zhou appeared to reverse course, warning the courts against the 'idea of judicial independence'. He said:

[China's courts] must firmly resist the western idea of “constitutional democracy”, “separation of powers” and “judicial independence”. These are erroneous western notions that threaten the leadership of the ruling Communist Party and defame the Chinese socialist path on the rule of law. We have to raise our flag and show our sword to struggle against such thoughts. We must not fall into the trap of western thoughts and judicial independence. We must stay firm on the Chinese socialist path on the rule of law.^[4]

This tougher line dampened democratic spirits and was interpreted as self-protection amid a Communist Party power struggle ahead of the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China. For instance, if he had to decide whether to allow a case against the government.^[4]

Zhou is currently a member of the 19th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China. He was previously a member of the 16th, 17th and 18th Central Committees.

References