China’s technocrats blast off: two more space engineers in new Central Committee
Zhejiang governor Yuan Jiajun and former Comac chairman Jin Zhuanglong join seven existing members with similar background
The technocratic credentials of the Communist Party’s Central Committee were boosted at the recently concluded party congress in Beijing, with two former engineers with a background in the defence industries, including the aerospace sector, joining the 204-member body.
Zhejiang governor Yuan Jiajun and Jin Zhuanglong, the former chairman of Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (Comac) who is now first deputy to President Xi Jinping on an important military-civilian integration committee, join at least seven existing members with a similar background.
Six of the former engineers, including Yuan and Jin, used to work for China Aerospace Space Science and Technology Corporation (CASTC) and the others worked for Chinese defence conglomerates.
Due to its reliance on advanced technology, the aerospace sector was an indicator of a country’s comprehensive national power and symbol of “modernisation” – a goal set by party chief Xi at the congress – Xu Shijie, a missile scientist at Beihang University, said.
China has invested heavily in the sector this century because of its importance in international strategic competition and the development of military technology.
