Wang Qishan

Wang Qishan (王岐山; Wáng Qíshān; born 19 July 1948) is a Chinese politician. Wang is one of the leading figures behind China's foreign affairs, along with President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang. Between 2012 and 2017, Wang had served as the Secretary of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, the Communist Party's anti-corruption body, and a member of the Politburo Standing Committee, China's highest decision making body. He served as Vice President of the People's Republic of China between 2018 and 2023.

Wang gained prominence in China's financial sector in the late 1980s. In 1994, Wang became the Governor of the China Construction Bank. Wang then successively served in three regional roles: Vice-Governor of Guangdong, Party Secretary of Hainan, and Mayor of Beijing. Wang then served as Vice-Premier in charge of finance and commercial affairs under premier Wen Jiabao from March 2008 to March 2013, during which he also gained a seat on the party's Politburo.

Quotes

 * China has an uninterrupted civilization of more than 5,000 years, and the Chinese nation has both gone through sufferings and made splendid achievements. When the West embarked upon industrialization and embraced the oceans, China fell behind because its emperors chose to shut China's door to the world, and this made China a victim of foreign aggression. Since modern times began, China was beset by crises at home and abroad, and ravaged by wars and chaos, which inflicted untold sufferings to its people. However, in a century of darkness, the Chinese people, rising one upon another in an unyielding spirit, never stopped searching for a way towards national renewal and prosperity.
 * "Full text of Chinese vice president's speech at 2019 WEF annual meeting" in Xinhua (24 January 2019)


 * We need to respect the independent choices of model of technology management and of public policies made by countries, and their right to participating in the global technological governance system as equals.
 * "China’s Vice President Decries Technological Hegemony" in The Wall Street Journal (23 January 2019)


 * What we need to do is make the pie bigger while looking for ways to share it in a more equitable way. The last thing we should do is to stop making the pie and just engage in a futile debate on how to divide it. Shifting blame for one’s own problems onto others will not resolve the problems.
 * "China’s Vice President Decries Technological Hegemony" in The Wall Street Journal (23 January 2019)


 * The Chinese and U.S. economies are inseparable, and that's the reality.
 * "China and US economies 'inseparable,' Wang Qishan tells Davos" in Nikkei Asia (24 January 2019)


 * Generally speaking, I belong to the optimist camp.
 * "China and US economies 'inseparable,' Wang Qishan tells Davos" in Nikkei Asia (24 January 2019)


 * China’s development can’t shut out the rest of the world. The world’s development can’t shut out China.
 * "World cannot shut China out, vice president says, in jab at U.S." in Reuters (7 July 2019)


 * If there is no peaceful, stable international environment, there will be no development to talk of.
 * "World cannot shut China out, vice president says, in jab at U.S." in Reuters (7 July 2019)


 * Nevertheless, we are acutely aware that China is still in the early stage of socialism and will remain so for a long time to come. There is still a long way to go before we achieve modernization. With the accelerated industrialization and urbanization, expedited systematic and institutional transformation and deepened reform and opening-up, China is not only facing development opportunities, but also many difficulties and challenges.
 * "Speech at the International Investment Forum" (2008)


 * Some even attempt to achieve political ambitions by seizing party and state power, engaging in activities to split the party, and seriously threatening the nation’s political stability.
 * "China’s second most powerful man warns of dissent and corruption in the Communist Party" in Quartz (1 December 2016)