Background
Chai Songyue was born in 1941 Putuo, Shanghai, China, China. Chai is a native of Putuo, Zhejiang Province.
松岳 柴
Chai Songyue was born in 1941 Putuo, Shanghai, China, China. Chai is a native of Putuo, Zhejiang Province.
In 1988, he was appointed vice-governor of Zhejiang Province, in 1997 acting governor, and from 1998, Chai was governor of the province. Located on the southeast coast next to the booming Shanghai metropolitan area, Zhejiang is one of the most prosperous provinces in China, and the regional economic development certainly helped Chai’s political career. As with other high-ranking officials in China, Chai’s party positions in the province have run in parallel with his government posts.
In 2003, Chai was brought in to serve as chairman of the China Electricity Regulatory Commission. His appointment was part of a wider effort to strengthen the management of key developmental sectors from 2003 to 2007. Chai and many other popular and successful provincial leaders were appointed as part of a new generation of national party congress members.
Chai’s chairmanship appointment was supposed to relieve the State Council’s control over the regulation of that industry; it was also part of a government action to replace old third-generation national leaders with new and fresh-faced local officials. In this new capacity, Chai worked on the issue of massive power shortages in various provinces. He supported an increase in generating capacity and expressed confidence that the problem would disappear as the new generators would be able to handle the increased need for power. The rolling blackouts were never more than a temporary solution to the problem, and under his leadership fewer and fewer provinces have needed to use this method of conserving power across China in recent years.
He joined the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) at age 20, and for the next 27 years held managerial and party positions in a power plant and a coal mine, later being named deputy secretary of the CCP Commission for Discipline Inspection in his home province.