12 Facts About Gao Hucheng

Gao Hucheng is a retired Chinese politician and business executive.

Gao Hucheng was born in Shuo County, Shanxi province in August 1951.

In 1972, Gao Hucheng was chosen to study French at the Beijing Second Foreign Languages Institute, and in 1975 he went abroad to study at the National University of Zaire in Kinshasa, capital of Zaire.

From 1977 to 1980, Gao Hucheng worked for the Chinese embassy in Zaire as a commercial officer.

In 1980, Gao Hucheng joined China National Machinery and Equipment Import and Export Corporation, and two years later was appointed deputy general manager of the company's France office in Paris.

Gao Hucheng spent the next five years in France, during which time he enrolled at the University of Paris VII, earning a doctorate in sociology in 1985.

In 1994, Gao Hucheng was appointed head of the Planning and Finance Department of the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation, a predecessor of the Ministry of Commerce, and promoted to assistant minister in 1997, a job he held for the next five years.

In 2002, Gao Hucheng was transferred from the central government to Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, where he served as Vice Chairman.

Gao Hucheng stayed in the position for 10 years, and concurrently served as China's International Trade Negotiation Representative from 2010 to 2013.

At the 12th National People's Congress of March 2013, Gao Hucheng was appointed Minister of Commerce in the cabinet of Premier Li Keqiang, replacing the outgoing minister Chen Deming.

Gao Hucheng was a full member of the 18th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party.

In June 2008, Gao Hucheng had dinner with Fang Fang, a managing director at the bank, and requested that Fang find a new position for Gao Jue, as Gao Jue's job had been cut.