83 Facts About Wang Huning

Wang Huning is a Chinese politician and one of the top leaders of the Chinese Communist Party.

Wang Huning is currently the chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.

Wang Huning has been a leading ideologist in the country since the 1980s.

Wang Huning has been a member of the CCP's Politburo Standing Committee, the highest decision-making within the party between convocations of the Central Committee and the National Congress, since 2017.

Wang Huning became a policy author for the CCP leadership in 1995 as a director of a research team at the CCP's Central Policy Research Office.

Wang Huning became the CPRO's deputy director in 1998, and became a member of the party's Central Committee and director of the office in 2002.

Wang Huning remained in the CPRO until 2020, the longest tenure in the office.

Wang Huning continued this work under Hu Jintao, and is believed to have had an important role in developing the theories, Scientific Outlook on Development, as well as Harmonious Society.

Wang Huning became a member of the CCP secretariat in 2007, a central leading organ responsible for executing and implementing policy decisions.

Wang Huning became a member of the Politburo in 2012, and is believed to have developed close relations with CCP general secretary Xi Jinping, becoming one of his closer associates.

Wang Huning has chaired leading commissions on ideology and reforms and is believed to have been instrumental in developing key concepts under Xi, including Xi Jinping Thought, Chinese-style modernization, the Chinese Dream, and the Belt and Road Initiative.

Wang Huning became the CPPCC chairman in March 2023, succeeding Wang Yang.

Wang Huning became the deputy leader of the Central Leading Group for Taiwan Affairs, an internal policy coordination organization on Taiwan policy.

Widely regarded as the "Gray Eminence" of the CCP, Wang Huning is perceived by external observers to be the informal chief ideologue of the CCP as well as the principal architect behind the party's political ideologies since the 1990s.

Wang Huning has held significant positions under three paramount leaders, a rare occurrence in Chinese politics.

Wang Huning believes that a strong, centralized state is needed in China to resist foreign influence, an idea that has been influential under Xi.

Wang Huning was born on 6 October 1955 in Nanshi, Shanghai.

Wang Huning's mother was hospitalized several times due to illness after 1965, requiring Wang and his two older brothers to look after her.

Wang Huning graduated from this junior high school in 1972.

The Training Class was first located in Dafeng County, Jiangsu Province, where Wang Huning began his study in October 1972.

Wang Huning's mentor was Chen Qiren, who later recalled Wang was late during the interview for the entrance examination, but he gave Wang a pass due to his excellence in the primary exam.

Wang Huning received a Master of Laws degree in 1981 and stayed in Fudan as an instructor at the Political Science Teaching and Research Department.

In 1985 at age 29, without first needing to serve as lecturer, Wang Huning was promoted to associate professor in international politics, making him China's youngest associate professor at the time.

Wang Huning was selected as a special policy researcher by Organization Department of the Shanghai Municipal Party Committee, which controls staffing positions within the Municipal Committee, and was the main contributor to the book Introduction to Political Science, a key social sciences project during the sixth five-year plan.

In 1988, Wang Huning was a visiting scholar in the United States for six months, spending the first three months at the University of Iowa, three weeks at the University of California, Berkeley, and visiting many other universities.

Wang Huning has been a well-known scholar in academic circles since the 1980s.

Wang Huning wrote columns and essays for literary magazines such as Dushu and World Economic Herald as well as numerous party-sanctioned publications including Wenhui Bao, Jiefang Daily and Guangming Daily.

Wang Huning was featured on the cover of current affairs magazines such as Banyuetan, attracting the attention of Shanghai's top political leaders, and he was known by Jiang Zemin, then Party secretary of Shanghai.

Wang Huning's achievements led to him being selected to participate in the drafting of theoretical documents for the CCP beginning from the 13th CCP National Congress in 1987.

In 1993, Wang Huning led the Fudan student debate team to participate in a Chinese-language international college debate competition in Singapore.

On 12 February 1993, Wang Huning established the Fudan University Development Research Institute.

Wang Huning was one of the two chief planners, of the China Development Report published by the Development Research Institute at the end of 1993; he was the chief writer of its political section.

When Jiang and Wang Huning first met, Jiang joked "If you don't come to Beijing again, these people will fall out with me", referring to Zeng and Wu.

In 1995, Wang Huning was appointed by Jiang to become the head the political research team at the Central Policy Research Office in Beijing.

Wang Huning was often considered to be a key political theorist serving in the Jiang Zemin administration, together with CPRO director Teng Wensheng and Liu Ji.

Wang Huning was promoted in April 1998 to be the deputy director of the CPRO, and accompanied Jiang on foreign visits since 1998 as a special assistant to the president.

Wang Huning was part of a team that formulated "Three Represents" that allowed entrepreneurs to join the CCP and which was written into the CCP constitution in 2002.

Wang Huning succeeded Teng to be the director of the CPRO.

In November 2007, Wang Huning was elected to the Secretariat of the Chinese Communist Party.

Wang Huning began accompanying General Secretary Hu Jintao on foreign trips and was considered one of Hu's three most influential secretaries, along with Ling Jihua and Chen Shiju.

Wang Huning is considered to be influential in the development of Scientific Outlook on Development and Harmonious Society, two concepts that originated under Hu's leadership.

Wang Huning led the team that wrote Hu's final report at the 18th CCP National Congress.

Wang Huning was elected to the Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party in November 2012 by the 18th Central Committee, becoming the first director of the CPRO to hold a seat on the Politburo.

Wang Huning worked closely with Xi Jinping after he was elected as the general secretary in November 2012, emerging as one of the central members of Xi's delegation on international trips.

On 22 January 2014, Wang Huning was appointed as the director of the Office of the Central Comprehensively Deepening Reforms Commission, a new CCP body responsible for implementing domestic economic, political, cultural and social reforms.

Wang Huning was elected by the 1st plenary session of the 19th Central Committee to be the 5th-ranking member of the Politburo Standing Committee on 25 October 2017, becoming one of the few members of the body without prior ministerial or provincial experience.

Wang Huning was appointed as a deputy leader of the CCDR.

Wang Huning has frequently accompanied Xi in his trips, suggesting involvement in China's diplomacy.

In January 2020, Wang Huning became the deputy leader of the Central Leading Group for Responding to the COVID-19 Pandemic, with premier Li Keqiang as the leader.

Wang Huning was succeeded by Jiang Jinquan as the director of CPRO in 2020.

Wang Huning played a key role in drafting the "third historical resolution" in November 2021, which further consolidated Xi's power.

In January 2022, Wang Huning chaired the National Propaganda Ministers Work Conference, where he emphasized the importance of Xi Jinping Thought and called on officials to follow the "442 formula", meaning the Four Consciousnesses, the Four Confidences and the Two Upholds.

Reuters reported on 3 March 2023, citing sources, that Wang Huning held a meeting in late October with top medical experts, senior officials and people from the propaganda apparatus, asking them how many deaths an abandonment of zero-COVID controls would cause in a worst-case scenario and requesting them to devise roadmaps on reopening policies in different paces.

Wang Huning was one of the deputy directors of the drafting team helping draft Xi's speech for the National Congress.

Wang Huning kept his position as the deputy leader of the CCDR.

In May 2023, Wang Huning visited Xinjiang, including major cities such as Urumqi and Kashgar as well as rural communities, schools, mosques and businesses.

Wang Huning called for "fostering a strong sense of community of the Chinese nation".

In December 2023, Wang Huning spoke at the 11th National Chinese Christian Congress, where he called on the Three-Self Patriotic Movement and the China Christian Council to "adhere to the direction of Sinicization of Christianity" and "interpret the doctrines that conform to the development and progress requirements of contemporary China, the core values of socialism and the excellent traditional Chinese culture".

At a plenary meeting of the CPPCC in July 2024, Wang Huning called for boosting the dual circulation strategy.

In January 2025, Wang Huning held a meeting of the CPPCC, where he pledged to support the development of the private sector, saying China "must support the healthy development of the non-public sector and entrepreneurs, and guide private enterprises and entrepreneurs to strengthen confidence, surmount challenges, and propel growth".

In January 2023, Wang Huning became the deputy leader of the Central Leading Group for Taiwan Affairs, placing him in charge of political relations with Taiwan.

Wang Huning is tasked with laying the groundwork for unification with Taiwan, coming up with a theory that replaces "one country, two systems" to serve as a metric to measure progress toward China's unification goals.

In February 2024, Wang Huning spoke at the Taiwan Work Conference, where he said China "must resolutely fight 'Taiwan independence' separatism" and "further grasp the strategic initiative to achieve the complete unification of the motherland".

Wang Huning attended the Straits Forum in June 2024, where he said the "historic trend of China's renaissance and reunification is unstoppable".

Wang Huning has been called China's "chief ideologue" by external observers and is thought to be influential in the development of the political ideas published under the names of three CCP leaders: Three Represents of Jiang Zemin, the Scientific Outlook on Development of Hu Jintao, and Xi Jinping Thought.

Wang Huning is believed to play a key role in drafting concepts including the Harmonious Society, Chinese Dream, Chinese-style modernization, and the Belt and Road Initiative.

Wang Huning wrote that he believes there must be a unified and stable leadership to "promote democracy in the whole society through inner-party democracy".

Wang Huning wrote "Aside from historical, social, economic and other causes, the imperfect and incomplete nature of political reforms were a cause that cannot be underestimated".

Wang Huning wrote the Cultural Revolution occurred because the CCP had not "formed a complete set of democratic systems" including a "system of division" between the Party and government, the National People's Congress was unable to exercise its powers, and there was no independent judicial system, a vertical decentralization in the political system, a national public servant system or a system to protect the right of citizens.

In 1986, Wang Huning wrote an article in which he argued that central power must be concentrated in the reform process and that the government should be relied upon to advance further economic reform.

Wang Huning says China passed through three stages in its development culture, traditional, modern, and Marxist-socialist, but none of led to the elimination of structures preceding them, meaning China was still an "unformed state" without a "proper identity".

Wang Huning said that the introduction of Marxism to China was not completely positive, and that while the CCP criticized China's historical values since 1949, it has not paid enough attention to creating and shaping its own core values.

Wang Huning implies that as the Chinese population becomes more exposed to the process of political socialization, a new value system will begin to emerge.

Wang Huning says China's political development will be the "fundamental basis for the construction of democratic politics in China" and "an important condition for the socialist system to demonstrate its superiority".

Wang Huning has written China's first academic paper on "soft power", and has been thought to be the driving force in China's investments in promoting its culture overseas.

In 1994, in his essay titled "Cultural Expansion and Cultural Sovereignty: A Challenge to the Concept of Sovereignty", Wang Huning argued that after the end of the Cold War, "culture conflict" surpassed political and military conflicts as the greatest challenge to sovereignty.

Wang Huning writes "Western countries are increasingly employing their cultural strength to constrain or influence world affairs and the process of internal developments of developing countries".

Wang Huning writes that as a reaction, "cultural sovereignty" emerged.

Wang Huning says struggle over culture is a form of "political struggle", meaning it was necessary to defend China's political system.

Wang Huning writes that while China must protect its cultural sovereignty, he says this must not mean an adoption of "cultural isolation", which he says "inevitably becomes archaic and obsolete".

In 1991, after his visit to the US, Wang Huning wrote the book America Against America.

Wang Huning praised the strengths of the US, such as its modernity and was described by The Economist as "seeing the weaknesses in America's system, but not exaggerating them".

Wang Huning has been regarded as the "Gray Eminence" of the CCP.