Yin Li

Yin Li (Chinese: 尹力; pinyin: Yǐn Lì; born August 1962) is a Chinese politician currently serving as Party Secretary of Beijing and a member of the Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party.

Previously, he served as party secretary of Fujian Province from 2020 to 2022, governor of Sichuan from 2016 to 2020, deputy party secretary of Sichuan from 2015 to 2020, deputy director of China Food and Drug Administration from 2013 to 2015, and Vice Minister of Health from 2008 to 2013. He also served on the executive board of the World Health Organization from 2004 to 2005.

Yin was born in Jinan, Shandong Province, China, and his family came from Linyi County nearby. He studied at Shandong Provincial Experimental High School as a student of the class of 1980.

At Shandong Medical University, Yin received his undergraduate education in medicine from 1980 to 1986 and graduate studies in social medicine and health management from 1986 to 1988. During this period, Yin Li expressed his reluctance to pursue a medical career, stating that doctors can only rescue lives individually; he articulated his aspiration to work in the public health service sector.

Upon obtaining a master's degree in 1988, Yin Li was chosen by China's State Education Committee to pursue studies in the Soviet Union. From 1988 to 1993, he pursued a PhD degree at the Institute of Social and Health Sciences, Economics, and Health Care Management of the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences.

Yin returned to China in 1993 and started his career as a cadre of the Department of Education, Science, Culture and Health at the Research Office of the State Council. Later at the research office, he served as the head of its international department and as an inspection officer.

In September 2002, Yin traveled to the United States to serve as a visiting scholar at the Harvard School of Public Health. Following the SARS epidemic broke out in China in early 2003, Yin was summoned by Beijing, ended his academic visit at Harvard University, and returned to China promptly in April 2003. He was appointed Deputy Director of the General Office of the Ministry of Health (at the director-general level) the following month. Yin Li was a government official who served as an expert at the symposium organized by Premier Wen Jiabao and helped with the efforts against SARS. In October 2003, Yin Li was appointed Director General of the Department of International Cooperation at the Ministry of Health. He served on the Executive Committee of the World Health Organization from January 2004 to May 2005, when he was elected Vice-Chairman of the Committee. In July 2006, he was appointed Director General of the General Office of the Ministry of Health. In September 2008, he was elevated to the Party Group and appointed Vice Minister of the Ministry of Health, so becoming the youngest officer to hold the position of Vice Minister of Health in China.

In February 2012, he was named head of the State Drug Administration; during his tenure, he effectively addressed the issue of enterprises manufacturing capsules with industrial gelatin. In November 2012, he was elected as an alternate of the 18th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party. In April 2013, he became Deputy Director of the National Health and Family Planning Commission, Deputy Director General of the State Food and Drug Administration (SFDA), which was the result of the amalgamation of several government departments.