Son of former Chinese president Hu Jintao promoted to deputy minister after a decade in regional posts
- State Council announces promotion of Hu Haifeng to deputy civil affairs minister after five years as party boss of small city in eastern China
- He started his government career in May 2013, months after his father stepped down as president
The much-watched appointment was announced by the State Council, China’s cabinet. The promotion will elevate Hu, 51, to vice-ministerial rank which marks an important step in the career advancement of Chinese officials.
The ministry handles welfare, social groups and marriage, among other civil affairs.
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Before the appointment, Hu had been the party boss of Lishui, a small city in the coastal province of Zhejiang, since July 2018.
Hu, a computer science graduate from Beijing Jiaotong University with a postgraduate degree in nuclear electronics and an executive MBA from Tsinghua University, did not enter politics until 2013.
He worked as a senior engineer at the state-owned Tsinghua Holdings and later became the president of Nuctech, a security scanning equipment maker controlled by Tsinghua Holdings.
He was then transferred to the Zhejiang Tsinghua Yangtze River Delta Research Institute, serving as party boss of the official think tank from 2009 to 2010.
