Zhang Aijun (politician, born 1964)

Zhang Aijun (Chinese: 张爱军; born February 1964) is a Chinese politician currently serving as Vice Chairman and Chinese Communist Party Deputy Committee Secretary of the Standing Committee of the Jiangsu Provincial People's Congress. He previously served in various CCP and government roles in Jiangsu province, including Mayor of Yangzhou, CCP Committee Secretary of Suqian, and head of the Publicity Department of the Jiangsu Provincial Committee of the Chinese Communist Party.^[1]

Zhang began his political career after completing his studies at Changzhou Materials School, majoring in business management from July 1982 to July 1984. He started working in July 1984 and joined the Chinese Communist Party in July 1987. From 1984 to 1992, Zhang worked as a section member and later deputy section chief at the Planning Committee of Nantong, Jiangsu Province. During this period, he studied English full-time at the Department of Foreign Languages, Fudan University (1984–1985), and pursued part-time education in economic management at the Jiangsu Provincial Party School (1989–1992).^[2]

Between 1992 and 1994, he served as deputy director of the Nantong City Materials Bureau and Deputy General Manager of the Materials Corporation. In late 1994, Zhang was appointed Party Secretary and Chairman of the People's Congress of Qian’an Town, Tongzhou City, and briefly served as Party Secretary of Guanyinshan Town in 1996.^[3]

He subsequently held multiple key positions in Hai'an County, including Head of the Publicity Department (1996–1997), Head of the Organization Department (1997–2000), Deputy Party Secretary and Executive Deputy County Head (2000–2001), and finally County Party Secretary from 2001 to 2006. During this time, he continued his education, studying law at the Central Party School (1999–2001), political economy at the Jiangsu Party School (2002–2004), and completing an MBA in a joint program with Maastricht School of Management. He also participated in a leadership training program at Heidelberg University in 2005.^[4][5]

In 2006, Zhang was promoted to the municipal level, becoming a member of the Standing Committee of the Yangzhou Municipal Committee of the CCP and Secretary of the Yangzhou Municipal Commission for Discipline Inspection. He later served as Executive Vice Mayor of Yangzhou (2009–2012), followed by Head of the Organization Department of the Yangzhou Municipal Committee (2012–2014), and Deputy Party Secretary (2014–2016).^[6][7]

In September 2016, Zhang was appointed Acting Mayor of Yangzhou and became Mayor in February 2017. He remained in this role until April 2018, when he was appointed Party Secretary of Suqian.^[8] He also served as Chairman of the Suqian Municipal People's Congress from January 2019 to October 2020.^[9]

In October 2020, Zhang was promoted to the provincial level as a member of the Standing Committee of the Jiangsu Provincial Committee of the Chinese Communist Party and Minister of the Publicity Department.^[10] In January 2024, he additionally assumed the post of Vice Chairman of the Standing Committee of the Jiangsu Provincial People's Congress.^[11]

Zhang has been a delegate to the 20th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party and the 13th National People's Congress. He is a member of the 13th and 14th CCP Jiangsu Provincial Committees and has served as a deputy to the 13th and 14th Jiangsu Provincial People's Congress. He also heads the Jiangsu Provincial Education Work Leading Group.^[12]