Wu Bangguo

Wu Bangguo (22 July 1941 – 8 October 2024) was a Chinese politician who served as the second-ranking member of the Politburo Standing Committee of the Chinese Communist Party from 2002 to 2012, and as Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress from 2003 to 2013.

Wu was an electrical engineer by profession, and rose to political prominence during his work in Shanghai. During the early 1980s, he was in charge of science and technology related work in Shanghai, where he worked with Jiang Zemin, then mayor and later Party secretary of the city, leading Wu to be affiliated with Jiang's political faction. He became Shanghai's party secretary in 1991, succeeding Zhu Rongji, leading him to assume a seat in the CCP Politburo in 1992. He became the country's third-ranking Vice Premier of the State Council in 1995, with a portfolio including state-owned enterprises and the construction of the Three Gorges Dam.

He joined the Politburo Standing Committee in 2002, and was appointed the Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress in 2003. Serving as one of the highest-ranking officials under Party general secretary Hu Jintao, Wu is generally regarded to have taken more conservative positions towards political reforms during his tenure. During his efforts, the NPCSC passed numerous administrative, social and economic laws to form a "socialist system of laws with Chinese characteristics". Notable laws passed during his tenure include the 2004 amendment to the Constitution, the Anti-Secession Law, the Oversight Law and the Property Law. He stepped down from the Politburo Standing Committee in 2012, and was succeeded by Zhang Dejiang as Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress in 2013.