Gao Qiang

Gao Qiang (Traditional Chinese:高強; Simplified Chinese:高强; Hanyu Pinyin:Gāo Qiáng) (b. 1944) is a Chinese politician and the current deputy minister and party secretary of the Ministry of Health of the People's Republic of China. He is of Han ethnicity, and is originally from an administrative county of Cangzhou, in Hebei province. Gao is a graduate of Renmin University, with a degree in World economics. He began to work in 1967, and joined the Communist Party of China in 1978. He worked in a variety of economics posts within the party, including under the Ministry of Finance. In 2001 he became the assistant secretary to the State Council of the People's Republic of China and the director of an office under it. In 2003, Gao became the Party secretary for the Ministry of Health, and the deputy minister of its standing committee. On April 27th, 2005, he was made the acting minister of health after the departure of Wu Yi. On June 29th, a new minister was appointed, and Gao was demoted to deputy minister. He retained his position are the ministry's Party secretary.