25 Facts About Chen Jining

Chen Jining is a Chinese environmental scientist, academic administrator and politician who has been serving as Party Secretary of Shanghai and member of the 20th Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party since October 2022.

Chen Jining then served as the university's vice president from 2006 to 2007, executive vice president from 2007 to 2012, and president from 2012 to 2015.

Chen Jining was born and raised in Gaizhou, Yingkou, Liaoning province in Northeast China.

Chen Jining started his undergraduate studies at Tsinghua University in 1981.

Chen Jining traveled to the United Kingdom for graduate studies at Brunel University London in 1988.

Chen Jining transferred to Imperial College London in 1989, where he graduated with a Doctor of Philosophy in civil engineering in 1992.

In March 1998, Chen Jining left England to serve as deputy director of the Department of Environmental Engineering at Tsinghua University in Beijing.

Chen Jining was promoted and served as the department director from 1999 to 2006.

Chen Jining concurrently served as Dean of the Graduate School of Tsinghua University from January 2010 to February 2012, Dean of the Graduate School at Shenzhen, Tsinghua University between January 2010 to July 2011.

In February 2012, Chen Jining was appointed president of Tsinghua University, he remained in that position until January 2015, when he was appointed Minister of Environmental Protection of China.

Chen Jining succeeded Zhou Shengxian as party secretary of the Ministry of Environmental Protection on 28 January 2015.

Chen Jining was appointed minister later that year, becoming the youngest national minister at the time, at age 50.

Chen Jining subsequently stopped mentioning the film in all public events.

In September 2015, Chen Jining pledged to make eight agencies affiliated with the Ministry independent by the end of next year, or revoke their qualifications otherwise.

Chen Jining held an emergency meeting in October 2016 after Beijing was put on yellow smog alert.

In May 2017, Chen Jining was appointed acting Mayor of Beijing, becoming the 17th person to hold the office since the founding of the People's Republic of China.

Chen Jining became a deputy to the 12th National People's Congress in March 2018.

In February 2020, amidst the growing COVID-19 pandemic, Chen Jining visited several companies in Zhongguancun to check on their operations.

Chen Jining was awarded the Silver Olympic Order after the 2022 Winter Olympics.

Chen Jining became a member of the Politburo after the 20th Party Congress and was appointed Party Secretary of Shanghai, succeeding Li Qiang who became a standing member.

In May 2023, after instructions by Xi, Chen Jining convened a meeting to call for an "upgraded version" of the waste disposal scheme first implemented in 2019.

In June 2023, Chen Jining met with Tesla, Inc CEO Elon Musk, where he encouraged Musk to increase investment in China.

In July 2023, Chen Jining convened a meeting of the Shanghai Municipal Committee to relay a decision made by the CCP leadership on Beijing to put Dong Yunhu, director of the Shanghai Municipal People's Congress Standing Committee, under investigation.

Chen Jining met with US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo in August 2023.

In 2024, Chen Jining was in the forefront of efforts to reassure foreign investors amid concerns about the economy.