Cai Qi

Cai Qi 蔡奇
Mayor of Hangzhou
In office April 2007 – February 2010
Preceded by	Sun Zhonghuan
Succeeded by	Shao Zhanwei
Head of the Organization Department of the Zhejiang Provincial Party Committee
In office June 2010 – November 2013
Party Secretary	Zhao Hongzhu Xia Baolong
Preceded by	Si Xinliang
Succeeded by	Hu Heping
Personal details
Born	December 1955 (age 60) Youxi County, Fujian, China
Political party	Communist Party of China
Alma mater	Fujian Normal University

Cai Qi (Chinese: 蔡奇; pinyin: Cài Qí; born December 1955) is a Chinese politician who spent much of his political career in Zhejiang province. He most recently served as the province's Executive Vice Governor. In March 2014, some sources indicated that he has taken on the role of the deputy chief of the General Office serving the National Security Commission, though this appointment has not been officially confirmed.^[1]

In the past, he has served successively as the mayor of Hangzhou, capital of Zhejiang province, the Party Secretary of Taizhou, Zhejiang, the mayor of Quzhou, and the mayor of Sanming, in Fujian province. He also at one point served as the head of the party's Organization Department in Zhejiang. Largely due to Cai's extensive experience working in Zhejiang province, he is believed to be a political ally of President Xi Jinping, who is also the General Secretary of the Communist Party of China.^[1]

Career

Cai was born in Youxi County, Fujian province in December 1955.^[2] 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 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.^[2] He was transferred to Zhejiang in May 1999 serving as the deputy Party Secretary and Mayor of Quzhou.^[2] Between March 2002 and April 2004 Cai served as Quzhou's party secretary, the top political office of the city.^[2] In April 2004 Cai became party chief of Taizhou, Zhejiang; at the time, Xi Jinping was the party chief of Zhejiang province.^[2] In April 2007, Cai was promoted to the position Mayor of Hangzhou, the provincial capital, also serving as deputy Party Secretary.^[2] In January 2010, he became a member of the provincial Party Standing Committee as head of the party's provincial Organization Department.^[2]

In November 2013, Cai became the Executive Vice Governor of Zhejiang province. He made the announcement of his change in jobs on his own online microblog account.^[3] 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.^[4] Cai is likely destined for higher office.^[1] Since 2014, Cai has appeared in news footage at numerous "study sessions" of the Politburo of the Communist Party of China, suggesting that he is an official of full provincial-ministerial rank and working for the central party organization.

Personal life

Cai has a reputation for being open-minded and to be not fond of too much bureaucracy or formalities. Cai has grey hair, and does not dye his hair black, unlike most of his colleagues. Cai is fond of electronics. He once remarked on his microblog, "we live a digital life; everything is on your iPhone these days." Cai is a regular reader of the The New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, and Beijing News. He is a fan of Season 2 of the American television series House of Cards and frequently made remarks about the show's plot on his social media feed.^[5]

Social media

Cai maintained a microblog (weibo) account under the subtitle "Cai Qi, a Bolshevik",^[5] 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.^[6] 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 was 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."^[7]

References

1. "原浙江副省长蔡奇传调任国安委". South China Morning Post (Chinese). March 29, 2014.
2. 蔡奇个人简历 (in Chinese). Hangzhou People's Government. July 2010. Retrieved 2010-11-14.
3. "蔡奇任浙副省长仅4月即去职 拥有千万微博"粉丝"". 163. March 28, 2014.
4. "政坛新派系崛起 港媒盘点之江新军". Duowei News.
5. "QQ Microblog, Cai Qi".
6. "港媒：大V官員蔡奇料入國安辦 出任專職副主任". Takungpao. March 28, 2014.
7. "母亲微博哀怨儿子陪酒伤身 蔡奇怒斥". Sohu. September 17, 2013.