Luo Gan

Luo Gan (1935- ), native of Jinan City, Shandong Province.

Member of the Political Bureau of the 15th CPC Central Committee; State Councillor.

Luo Gan is a close associate of Li Peng.  It can be assumed that Li Peng is putting much of his weight behind his candidacy for a spot on the politburo's Standing Committee, though it is questionable whether Li Peng retains enough influence to land him a spot in the group of seven senior leaders.   If he is elevated to the Standing Committee, it is an excellent indication that Li Peng still wields influence behind the scenes.  Lately, it is suspected that Li Peng will wield more influence than Zhu Rongji in placing his proteges on the politburo, and it is likely that Luo Gan will get a standing committee seat, possibly at the expense of Wu Yi.  It is possible that his spot is already assured at the expense of former Shanghai mayor and Zhu Rongji protege, Xu Kuangdi who abruptly stepped down from the post to take up a low profile job in the private sector.  

He currently is in charge of the Committee of Political Science and Law Under CPC Central Committee which is the Party's legal and security apparatus, giving him wide influence over party members.

Luo Gan was enrolled in the Pressure Processing Department of the Beijing Institute of Iron and Steel Engineering at 18. When a sophomore, he was sent to study German language at Karl Marx University in Leipzig, GDR, and did fieldwork in the Leipzig Iron and Steel Plant and Metal Casting Plant the following year. Afterward, he studied at the Freiburg Institute of Mining and Metallurgy for six years. 

In 1962, 27-year-old Luo Gan returned to China to do research work in the Mechanical Engineering Research Institute under the First Ministry of Machine-Building Industry, and served as technician and project chief.

In the early 1970s Luo Gan was an office chief for preparing the establishment of a research institute under the First Ministry of Machine-Building Industry in Luohe City, Henan Province, and later he was appointed deputy director of the Zhengzhou Machine-Building Research Institute of the ministry.

In 1980 Luo Gan was transferred to a local organization and served as vice director of the Henan Provincial Imports and Exports Commission and later director of the Provincial Science and Technology Commission.

Luo Gan became vice governor of Henan Province and secretary of the Henan Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) at 46, one of the youngest provincial leaders in China.

In 1983 Luo returned to Beijing to be vice president of the All-China Federation of Trade Unions and one of the main leaders of hundreds of millions of workers in China.

Luo Gan served as minister of Labor from 1988 to 1993; secretary-general of the State Council from 1988-1998.

Luo was president of the Chinese Society of Administrative Management, 1993-1998; and became deputy director, 1993, and director, May 1998, of the Central Committee for Comprehensive Management of Public Security.

In 1995, Luo was elected chairman of Beijing Planning and Construction Committee.

Luo was elected state councilor, secretary of the Party Leading Members Group, secretary of Working Committee of Central Government Departments under CPC Central Committee, and deputy secretary of the Central Political Science and Law Committee in 1993.

He was elected member of Secretariat, and member of the Political Bureau, of 15th CPC Central Committee in September 1997, and reelected State Councillor on March 18, 1998.

Luo was appointed secretary of Committee of Political Science and Law Under CPC Central Committee in April 1998; and director of Secrets Committee of CPC Central Committee in May 1998.

Luo was also alternate member of 12th CPC Central Committee; member of 13th to 15th CPC Central Committees; and deputy to 8th and 9th NPC.

Prediction:  Standing Committee Member