https://www.scmp.com/rss/196297/feed Liu Yandong served alongside President Hu Jintao in the China Youth League and has an outside chance of becoming the first woman member of the Politburo Standing Committee. She rose to prominence through the influential United Front Work Department and at the 17th party congress in 2007, she was made a Politburo member in charge of health, education, science and sports. Her elevation is seen by political observers a strong message that China's political sphere is evolving. en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Willa Wu Willa Wu China’s No 4 politician was among senior Beijing officials and other heavyweights who sent wreaths to the wake for Hong Kong tobacco and media tycoon Charles Ho Tsu-kwok. State-run Xinhua called Ho a patriotic businessman and “an intimate friend” of the Communist Party of China in an article published on Saturday night. “Ho played an important role in Hong Kong’s smooth transition, successful handover and maintenance of prosperity and stability. He supported the nation’s reform and opening-up... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3316233/chinas-no-4-official-joins-mourning-death-hong-kong-tycoon-charles-ho?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3316233/chinas-no-4-official-joins-mourning-death-hong-kong-tycoon-charles-ho?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 28 Jun 2025 13:26:36 +0000 Women hold up half the sky, said the Great Helmsman. In the mainland corporate world, that may have become true. If a new survey by an international accounting group is correct, half (51 per cent) of senior management jobs in mainland companies are now held by women. This places the mainland ahead of Hong Kong, other Asian economies and such Western countries as the United States and Britain, according to the report by Grant Thornton International, which surveyed chief executives and chairmen of... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1186703/women-china-still-not-equal-men?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1186703/women-china-still-not-equal-men?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 08 Mar 2013 16:00:00 +0000 Guangdong party secretary Wang Yang, State Councillor Liu Yandong and State Council secretary general Ma Kai are front runners to fill the vice-premiership vacancies to be left by Zhang Dejiang, Hui Liangyu and Wang Qishan in March. All three potential vice-premiers are among the 25 members of the Communist Party's new Politburo, unveiled yesterday. Judging by her past experience, Liu, 67, could become the vice-premier responsible for culture, education, health care and technology. If she does... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1083430/front-runners-emerge-vice-premier-vacancies?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1083430/front-runners-emerge-vice-premier-vacancies?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 15 Nov 2012 16:00:00 +0000 Mao Zedong once declared: “Women hold up half the sky,” but today’s Chinese Communist Party is heavy with testosterone and when a new set of leaders is announced this week all are expected to be male. About a quarter of the delegates at the party congress under way in Beijing are women, but the meeting largely rubberstamps decisions already made behind closed doors and the higher up the echelons of real power, the more their ranks thin. The ruling party’s influential Central Committee has 6 per... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1080664/chinas-communist-party-remains-boys-club?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1080664/chinas-communist-party-remains-boys-club?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 12 Nov 2012 06:40:40 +0000 Liu Yandong served alongside President Hu Jintao in the China Youth League and has an outside chance of becoming the first woman member of the Politburo Standing Committee. She rose to prominence through the influential United Front Work Department and at the 17th party congress in 2007, she was made a Politburo member in charge of health, education, science and sports. Her elevation is seen by political observers a strong message that China's political sphere is evolving. https://www.scmp.com/news/18th-party-congress/article/1053140/liu-yandong?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/18th-party-congress/article/1053140/liu-yandong?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 03 Oct 2012 09:40:36 +0000 The number of woman politicians who have shaped the nation can be counted on one hand. It's one of the smallest elite clubs in the world, but Liu Yandong may soon crack its doors slightly wider open. Liu, 66, has an outside chance of becoming the first woman member of the Politburo Standing Committee, the party's top decision-making body. And depending on how she performs in the role - if she gets it - China could redefine its political image away from the dour technocrats and grim generals that... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1040175/breaking-glass-ceiling-politburo-standing-committee?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1040175/breaking-glass-ceiling-politburo-standing-committee?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 18 Sep 2012 16:00:00 +0000 In a few weeks, more than 2,200 delegates to the 18th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party will convene in Beijing for the most important gathering in a decade, when a new generation of leaders will be ushered in to guide the world's second largest economy for the next 10 years. This is SCMP's pre-conference package on China's leadership transition.   Liaoning Party chief Wang Min eyes Politburo prize Liaoning's Communist Party secretary, Wang Min , responded to 34 online petition... https://www.scmp.com/article/1031613/special-project-chinas-leadership-transition?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/1031613/special-project-chinas-leadership-transition?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 07 Sep 2012 08:11:26 +0000 The confirmation that Liu Yandong, one of President Hu Jintao's most trusted allies and a child of a party veteran, has been appointed a state councillor instead of a much more powerful vice-premier has come as a surprise, analysts have said. The speculation was rife in the run-up to the National People's Congress that Ms Liu, 62, a new Politburo member, would head a newly created fifth vice-premier slot responsible for education and medical care because of her strong political ties to Mr... https://www.scmp.com/article/630261/liu-yandongs-state-council-role-surprises-analysts?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/630261/liu-yandongs-state-council-role-surprises-analysts?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 16 Mar 2008 16:00:00 +0000 The party boss of Sichuan - a protege of President Hu Jintao - has been appointed to head the party's United Front Work Department, according to a statement issued by the party's Central Committee yesterday. Du Qinglin, 51, will replace Liu Yandong, also a close ally of the president who ascended to the all-powerful Politburo at the party's 17th National Congress in October, said the statement posted on the central government's website. The reshuffle is further evidence that officials with a... https://www.scmp.com/article/618056/top-jobs-two-presidential-allies?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/618056/top-jobs-two-presidential-allies?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 02 Dec 2007 16:00:00 +0000 While the 17th party congress is a significant indicator of political fortunes, it also tells the story of how women are sadly sidelined in politics. During the congress, the Great Hall of the People was packed with more than 2,000 elite party representatives - most of them middle-aged or elderly men in grey or black suits. There were some women representatives in the crowd, mostly grass-roots representatives such as heads of neighbourhood committees, teachers or members of ethnic... https://www.scmp.com/article/612614/women-now-hold-only-20pc-sky?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/612614/women-now-hold-only-20pc-sky?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 22 Oct 2007 16:00:00 +0000 Liu Yandong , 62, the head of Communist Party's United Front Work Department, boasts a background both as a Communist Youth Leaguer and so-called princeling, a child of a party veteran. With her promotion to the Politburo, she is also the highest ranking female official on the mainland and the body's only female member, following the retirement of vice-premier Wu Yi , the 'Iron Lady' of Chinese politics. There is widespread speculation about whether Ms Liu can match her charismatic predecessor... https://www.scmp.com/article/612616/liu-yandong-capable-and-popular-princeling?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/612616/liu-yandong-capable-and-popular-princeling?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 22 Oct 2007 16:00:00 +0000 In a visit that resembled that of Premier Wen Jiabao last year, senior party official Liu Yandong presented a new image of the Beijing leadership to Hong Kong. On her first official trip, Ms Liu hugged children and mingled with the elderly during her five-day stay. The rest of the schedule for the director of the Communist Party's United Front Work Department was packed with wining and dining pro-Beijing figures and the business and professional sectors. Speaking as softly and candidly as... https://www.scmp.com/article/457689/goodwill-trip-was-mission-impossible?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/457689/goodwill-trip-was-mission-impossible?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 30 May 2004 16:00:00 +0000 Liu Yandong - the official sent to Hong Kong on a charm offensive - has risen steadily through the party ranks since the perilous days of the Cultural Revolution, when she was criticised for being a successful student. There is more to Ms Liu - the party's top PR person and a woman dubbed the party's beauty - than sporting different outfits for various public functions and her ready smile. Ms Liu, 59, from Nantong city in Jiangsu province , joined the party in 1964. In the same year, the... https://www.scmp.com/article/457548/cadres-perilous-rise-top?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/457548/cadres-perilous-rise-top?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 29 May 2004 16:00:00 +0000 Liu Yandong's charm offensive goes beyond mere words. She always wears a ready smile - and seemingly a different wardrobe for every occasion. In the course of two days, she has been seen sporting at least seven different outfits for various public functions. By just after 3pm yesterday, when she left the Grand Hyatt hotel following her lunch engagement, Ms Liu was already in her third outfit of the day, a brown floral-pattern jacket with a black dress. Earlier, she looked as fresh as ever... https://www.scmp.com/article/457357/cadre-well-suited-tackle-unifying-task?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/457357/cadre-well-suited-tackle-unifying-task?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 27 May 2004 16:00:00 +0000