Behind the skyline of Shanghai, the factories of Shenzhen, the high-speed railways crossing the country and the extraordinary expansion of its technological capacity lies something less visible but equally important; a political and administrative system that has placed considerable emphasis on the selection, training and evaluation of officials.

Research on China’s cadre system has found that economic performance has historically been an important consideration in advancement, while the criteria have increasingly broadened to include social welfare, poverty reduction, environmental protection and other policy objectives.

His tenure there was brief, but the assignment placed him directly in one of China’s most important political and economic centres.

Every year, October 1 carries a special significance for China. It marks the establishment of the People’s Republic of China in 1949 and the beginning of a remarkable chapter in the country’s modern history. Seventy-seven years later, China’s transformation from a poor and war-ravaged country into one of the world’s largest economies and most consequential powers remains one of the defining stories of the modern age.

China’s rise, however, cannot be explained merely by its vast population, natural resources or geographical size. Behind the skyline of Shanghai, the factories of Shenzhen, the high-speed railways crossing the country and the extraordinary expansion of its technological capacity lies something less visible but equally important; a political and administrative system that has placed considerable emphasis on the selection, training and evaluation of officials.

This raises an intriguing question; how does a person in China progress from being an ordinary political worker to occupying a position of national leadership?

The answer is more........

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