Topic: Han Zheng

Han Zheng (Chinese: 韩正) (born in Cixi, Zhejiang province, April 1954) is the current mayor of Shanghai, the 13th to serve in the position since the founding of the People's Republic of China. As the most senior member of the Shanghai clique who is not a member of the Politburo of the Communist Party of China, and member of the emerging fifth generation, whether or not he attains higher office in coming years will be a barometer of whether the Clique retains its national influence.

He joined the CPC in 1979. He holds a Master's Degree and is a senior economist. He joined the CPC Central Committee in 2002. In 2003 he was named the Mayor of Shanghai at age 48, the youngest Mayor the city has seen in fifty years. A vocal advocate of the Shanghai real estate boom, Han has a largely positive image with the Shanghai populace for his openness and transparency. However, because he served under Chen Liangyu, the CPC Shanghai Secretary at the time, Han supported many of Chen's policies, notably those favouring Shanghai's regional development, held in contrast to the position of the central CPC leadership. Therefore it is still difficult to gauge whether or not Han was involved in the alleged Shanghai pension scandal.

On September 25, 2006, Han became the acting Secretary of the Shanghai Municipal Committee after the dismissal of Chen Liangyu over corruption probes. With what were believed to be stern messages sent by President Hu Jintao, Han led a municipal task force to crack down on the corruption in Shanghai, and has since then been believed to be a Hu loyalist. His tenure as the number one figure in Shanghai lasted a mere five months, when on March 24, 2007, he was replaced by Xi Jinping, the Party Chief for the nearby province of Zhejiang, as the next Secretary of the Shanghai Municipal Committee. Han still keeps the position of the Mayor of Shanghai. He is longlisted for the 2008 World Mayor award.