New Zhijiang Army

The New Zhijiang Army (simplified Chinese: 之江新军; traditional Chinese: 之江新軍; pinyin: Zhījiāng Xīnjūn), also known as the Xi Jinping faction (Chinese: 习近平派系),^[1] is a term used by observers to represent political figures in the Chinese Communist Party who are closely related to CCP general secretary Xi Jinping, most prominently those who held important provincial and local posts during Xi Jinping's term as Communist Party Secretary of Zhejiang province. The "new army" refers to people who were closely associated with Xi and identify with his political views, and who have since then taken on prominent political posts at the provincial level or in central party and state organs.

New Zhijiang Army 之江新军
Leader	Xi Jinping
Founded	2007; 17 years ago (2007)
Headquarters	Beijing and Hangzhou
Ideology	Socialism with Chinese characteristics Xi Jinping Thought
Politics of China Political parties Elections

The term was first widely used by Ma Haoliang (马浩亮), editor at Hong Kong-based newspaper Ta Kung Pao in an article entitled the New Zhijiang Army of Chinese Politics. The term Zhijiang refers to the Qiantang River, which runs through the province, but is often used as a poetic reference for the greater Zhejiang region. The term was initially used as title to Xi Jinping's book Zhijiang Xinyu (之江新语), a book compiling the political philosophies of Xi Jinping during his five-year term as party chief of Zhejiang, published in 2007.^[2]

The people close to Xi Jinping have also been referred to as "Xi Clan" (simplified Chinese: 习家军; traditional Chinese: 習家軍; pinyin: Xí Jiājūn).^[3]

Suggested members

Name	Born	Office held in Zhejiang during Xi's term	Office held at present
Cai Qi 蔡奇	December 1955	Party Secretary of Quzhou, Party Secretary of Taizhou	First-ranked Secretary of the CCP Secretariat
Huang Kunming 黄坤明	November 1956	Mayor of Huzhou Party Secretary of Jiaxing	Party Secretary of Guangdong province
Chen Derong 陈德荣	March 1961	Mayor of Jiaxing	Chief executive of China Baowu Steel Group
Bayanqolu 巴音朝鲁	October 1955	Party Secretary of Ningbo
Lou Yangsheng 楼阳生	October 1959	Party Secretary of Lishui	Party Secretary of Henan province
Xia Baolong 夏宝龙	December 1952	Deputy Party Secretary of Zhejiang	Vice Chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference
Li Qiang 李强	July 1959	Secretary-General of Zhejiang Party Committee	Premier of the People's Republic of China
Chen Min'er 陈敏尔	September 1960	Head of Zhejiang provincial party Propaganda Department	Party Secretary of Chongqing
Ying Yong 应勇	November 1957	Director of Supervision Department, Zhejiang President of Zhejiang High Court Deputy Secretary of Zhejiang Discipline Inspection Commission	Deputy Prosecutor-General of the Supreme People's Procuratorate
Zhong Shaojun 钟绍军	1968	Deputy Head of the Organization Department of Zhejiang Party Committee	Lieutenant general of the People's Liberation Army Director of the General Office of the Central Military Commission
Li Xi 李希	1956		Secretary of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection
Chen Xi 陈希	September 1953		President of the Central Party School
He Lifeng 何立峰	February 1955		Vice Premier of the People's Republic of China
Shu Guozeng 舒国增	1956

Others

Other politicians have been named by Chinese-language media as associates of Xi Jinping. They have known or worked under him as a result of their regional tenures in Shaanxi province (Xi's "home province"), the southeast (Zhejiang and Fujian provinces), or through Tsinghua University, where Xi spent time in his youth. Those named include Wang Qishan, Li Zhanshu, Liu He, Chen Xi, He Yiting, Wang Xiaohong, Li Shulei, and Huang Xingguo (since disgraced). In the military, Liu Yuan, Zhang Youxia, and Liu Yazhou have been named as some of Xi's top associates.^[4]

See also

• Shanghai clique
• Tuanpai

References

1. "Members of the Xi Jinping Clique Revealed". Jamestown. Retrieved 13 August 2022.
2. Ma, Haoliang (29 December 2014). "中国政坛的"之江新军"". Ta Kung Po via Mingjing. Archived from the original on 12 January 2015. Retrieved 12 January 2015.
3. 楊 Yang, 光 Guang. ""習近平的山頭主義用人路線 Xi Jinping de shantou zhuyi yongren luxian (The cliquish cadre promotion line of Xi Jinping)"". Retrieved 22 September 2017.
4. Reuters via Deutsche Welle