Cheng Li, the William R. Kenan Professor of Government, was quoted in a Financial Times article "China sweeps aside older executives to make way for youthful verve." According to the article, "By appointing younger executives, the government has leapfrogged the generation who became adults during the Cultural Revolution, the decade from 1966 when students were encouraged by Mao Zedong to make revolution at the expense of all else."
"The government wants these companies to survive and be competitive, and to remain owned by the state," said Li, the chair of the Asian Studies program. In the Chinese 'nomenclature,' the top executives of large state companies are ranked on a par with government officials. The president of Sinopec, for example, has the rank of vice-minister, whereas the more powerful chairman enjoys minister-level status."
"The average age of provincial party secretaries was 58 in 2003, according to Li's research, and governors and vice-governors 52, about three years younger than in 2002. Mr. Hu has begun gradually to install his people into top provincial positions, but is not yet powerful enough to make changes as radical as those with state companies."
