Li Yalin

Li Yalin (Chinese: 李雅林; born May 1964) is a Chinese politician currently serving as Chairman of the Overseas Chinese, Ethnic and Religious Affairs Committee of the Guangdong Provincial People's Congress. He is a native of Anqiu, Shandong Province. He joined the Chinese Communist Party in November 1986 and began working in July 1988. He holds a doctorate in education and is a postgraduate degree holder.^[1]

From September 1981 to September 1985, Li studied school education at the Department of Education at Shandong Normal University. He continued his academic journey with a master's degree in developmental psychology at the Department of Psychology of South China Normal University from 1985 to 1988. Afterward, he worked as an assistant lecturer at the Department of Education at Shandong Normal University until 1990. He returned to South China Normal University from 1990 to 1994 for doctoral studies in educational psychology. Upon graduation, he remained at the university as a lecturer and associate professor in the Department of Psychology until May 1997.^[2] Li then transitioned to governmental roles in Guangdong Province, initially working as assistant researcher in the Placement and Recruitment Division of the Guangdong Provincial Department of Personnel and later as Deputy Director of the Provincial Talent Assessment Center. From 2001 to 2008, he served as Director of the Guangdong Provincial Talent Assessment Center. Between 2004 and 2005, he served as Vice Mayor of Hezhou, Guangxi.^[3]

From 2008 to 2010, Li was Director of the Guangdong Provincial Examination Authority. He was then appointed as a member of the Party Leadership Group and Deputy Inspector of the Guangdong Provincial Department of Human Resources and Social Security. During this time, he also led the sixth batch of Guangdong aid-Tibet cadres and served as Executive Deputy Secretary of the Nyingchi Prefectural Party Committee in Tibet.^[4]

Between 2013 and 2016, Li served as Standing Committee Member and Head of the Organization Department of the Foshan Municipal Committee, and also as President of the Party School. He was later promoted to Deputy Secretary of the Foshan Municipal Committee and Secretary of the Political and Legal Affairs Commission in 2016, concurrently serving as Director of the Social Work Committee.^[5] In 2017, he became Deputy Secretary-General of the Guangdong Provincial Party Committee and Director of the Provincial Petition Bureau. In November 2018, he was appointed Deputy Secretary-General of the Guangdong Provincial People's Government while retaining his role as Director of the Petition Bureau.^[6]

From May 2019 to August 2021, he served as Party Secretary and Chairman of the Standing Committee of the People's Congress of Chaozhou. In September 2021, he was appointed Deputy Director of the Overseas Chinese, Ethnic and Religious Affairs Committee of the 13th Guangdong Provincial People's Congress. In March 2022, he also became a member of the Credentials Review Committee of the Standing Committee of the same congress. In January 2023, Li was promoted to Chairman of the Overseas Chinese, Ethnic and Religious Affairs Committee of the 14th Guangdong Provincial People's Congress.^[7]