New head of Party School attends graduation of 453

Chen Xi, the new head of the Organization Department of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, attended a graduation ceremony on Friday of the Party School of the CPC Central Committee as the school's new president.

He presented certificates to 453 autumn semester graduates. Three student representatives delivered speeches at the ceremony, stating their determination to study, spread and implement the spirit of the 19th National Congress of the CPC, which was held in Beijing between Oct 18 and 24, according to a news release.

Established in 1933, the CPC Central Committee Party School is the higher education institution that trains Party officials. It currently has more than 1,100 staff members and an average of 3,000 Party officials study at the school each semester.

Before Chen, Liu Yunshan, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the 18th CPC Central Committee, had served as the school's president since late 2012.

Chen, 64, was elected as a member of the Political Bureau of the 19th CPC Central Committee on Oct 25 and later became the new head of the Organization Department of the CPC Central Committee. The department is mainly in charge of personnel arrangements.

Chen said on Tuesday that the Party will make more effort to cultivate officials with high-quality and professional knowledge. The Party will also adopt more active, open and effective talent policies, he said.

Chen worked at Tsinghua University in Beijing for 26 years, including serving as the university's Party chief between 2002 and his appointment as vice-minister of education in 2008.

He received a master's degree from the university's Department of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering in 1982, and was a visiting scholar at Stanford University in the United States from 1990 to 1992.

cuijia@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 11/04/2017 page3)