Guo Zhenqian

Guo Zhenqian (Chinese: 郭振乾; February 1933 – 13 August 2019) was a Chinese politician and banker. He served as Governor of Hubei Province from 1985 to 1990, Vice Governor of the People's Bank of China from 1990 to 1993, and Auditor-General of the National Audit Office from 1994 to 1998.

Guo Zhenqian
郭振乾
Auditor General of the National Audit Office
In office April 1994 – March 1998
Preceded by	Lü Peijian
Succeeded by	Li Jinhua
Vice Governor of the People's Bank of China
In office February 1990 – July 1993
Governor	Li Guixian
Governor of Hubei
In office December 1985 – February 1990 (acting until May 1986)
Party Chief	Guan Guangfu
Preceded by	Huang Zhizhen
Succeeded by	Guo Shuyan
Personal details
Born	February 1933 Luoning County, Henan, China
Died	13 August 2019 (aged 86) Beijing, China
Resting place	Babaoshan Revolutionary Cemetery
Political party	Communist Party of China
Alma mater	Renmin University of China
Chinese name
Chinese	郭振乾
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Guō Zhènqián Wade–Giles Kuo Chen-ch'ien IPA [kwó ʈʂə̂ntɕʰjɛ̌n]

Early life and education

Guo was born in February 1933 in Luoning County, Henan, Republic of China. He participated in the Communist Revolution from July 1947 and joined the Communist Party of China in April 1949. In July 1951, he entered Renmin University of China to study commerce and graduated in August 1954.[1][2]

Career in Hubei

After university, Guo worked at the Department of Commerce of Hubei Province. Starting in December 1957, he worked at Wuhan School of Commerce, and later served as vice principal. He was persecuted during the early phase of the Cultural Revolution.[1][2]

In October 1972, Guo began working at the Office of Finance and Commerce of Hubei. In October 1980, he was appointed President of the Hubei Branch of China Construction Bank.[1] In April 1983, he was appointed Vice Governor of Hubei and Director of the Provincial Economics Committee. He was promoted to Deputy Party Secretary and Acting Governor of Hubei in December 1985 and Governor in May 1986.[1][2]

During his tenure in Hubei, Guo focused on the economic growth of the province. To pressure provincial enterprises to cut their losses, he published a list of loss-making businesses in a newspaper, and coordinated banks and government financial departments to help them reduce their losses or turn a profit.[1][3] However, he disagreed with Guan Guangfu, the Party Secretary of Hubei, over the ambitious "Rising Abruptly" strategy, which aimed to dramatically increase the province's economic output. As a result, Guo ended his term prematurely and left the province, as later did his successor, Guo Shuyan.[4]

Career in the national government

In February 1990, Guo was transferred to Beijing to serve as minister-level Vice Governor of the People's Bank of China, the country's central bank. In this capacity, he supported the opening of the Shanghai Stock Exchange and the Shenzhen Stock Exchange.[1]

In July 1993, Guo was appointed Deputy Auditor-General of the National Audit Office (NAO), and was soon promoted to Auditor-General in April 1994.[1] After the National Audit Law was adopted in 1995, the NAO initiated an audit of 43 ministries and departments of the central government, including the Ministry of Finance, the General Administration of Customs, and the State Taxation Administration. The audit uncovered systematic corruption in the government, but the results were not initially made public. A year after Guo stepped down from his position, Premier Zhu Rongji published the report in 1999, disclosing many serious problems including the misuse of hydrological funds by the Ministry of Water Resources.[2]

In March 1998, Guo became a member of the Standing Committee of the 9th National People's Congress, Deputy Director of the Congress's Finance and Economics Committee, and Founding Director of the Budget Committee. He was a member of the 13th and 14th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China.[1]

Death

Guo died on 13 August 2019 in Beijing, at age 86. He was buried in the Babaoshan Revolutionary Cemetery.[1][3]

References

1. Yue, Huairang (19 August 2019). "审计署原审计长、党组书记郭振乾逝世，享年86岁" [Former Auditor General and Party Secretary Guo Zhenqian dies, aged 86]. The Paper. Retrieved 20 August 2019.
2. "审计署原审计长郭振乾逝世 曾任湖北省长" [Former Auditor General Guo Zhenqian dies, also served as Governor of Hubei]. Netease. 19 August 2019. Retrieved 20 August 2019.
3. Li Yuying 李玉莹 (19 August 2019). "审计署原审计长郭振乾逝世，曾是湖北省省长" [Former Auditor General Guo Zhenqian dies, also served as Governor of Hubei]. Changjiang Daily. Retrieved 20 August 2019.
4. Hendrischke, Hans (2013). The Political Economy of China's Provinces: Competitive and Comparative Advantage. Routledge. p. 166. ISBN 978-1-134-62101-9.