Zhang Zulin

In this Chinese name, the family name is Zhang.

Zhang Zulin
张祖林
Vice Governor of Yunnan
In office August 2014 – January 2018
Governor	Li Jiheng Chen Hao Ruan Chengfa
Communist Party Secretary of Yuxi
In office December 2012 – September 2014
Deputy	Gao Jinsong Rao Nanhu
Preceded by	Kong Xianggeng
Succeeded by	Luo Yingguang
Mayor of Kunming
In office May 2007 – December 2012
Party Secretary	Qiu He Zhang Tianxin
Preceded by	Wang Wentao
Succeeded by	Li Wenrong
Mayor of Lijiang
In office June 2005 – May 2007
Party Secretary	He Zixing
Preceded by	He Zixing
Succeeded by	Wang Junzheng
Personal details
Born	June 1959 (age 65) Zhaotong, Yunnan, China
Political party	Chinese Communist Party (1985–2024; expelled)
Alma mater	Yunnan University Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business Tongji University
Chinese name
Simplified Chinese	张祖林
Traditional Chinese	張祖林
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Zhāng Zǔlín

Zhang Zulin (Chinese: 张祖林; born June 1959) is a former Chinese politician who spent his entire career in southwest China's Yunnan province. As of March 2023 he was under investigation by China's top graft busters. Previously he served as vice governor of Yunnan.

He was a delegate to the 11th National People's Congress.

Early life and education

Zhang was born in June 1959 in Zhaotong, Yunnan. After the Cultural Revolution, he was a sent-down youth for a short time from September 1977 to February 1978. After resuming the college entrance examination, in 1978, he enrolled at the Department of Physics, Yunnan University, where he majored in radio.

Career

After graduating in January 1982, he was assigned to Zhaotong TV Station for a year. In March 1983, he became a reporter from Yunnan Television Station, a position he held until October 1990, when he was promoted to deputy director of the Editorial Office.

Zhang joined the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in March 1985, and got involved in politics in August 1991. In 1991, he became deputy magistrate of Yongren County, rising to magistrate in 1993. He was vice governor of Chuxiong Yi Autonomous Prefecture in February 1995, and held that office until June 2000. He served as deputy director of Yunnan Provincial Quality and Technical Supervision Bureau in June 2000, and two years later promoted to the director position. In June 2005, he was named acting mayor of Lijiang, confirmed in May 2007. He was appointed mayor of Kunming in November 2007, concurrently serving as deputy party secretary. In December 2012, he was promoted to party secretary of Yuxi. It would be his first job as "first-in-charge" of a prefecture-level city. He was chosen as vice governor of Yunnan in August 2014, a post he kept until January 2018.

Downfall

On 1 March 2024, he has come under investigation for "serious violations of discipline and laws" by the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI), the party's internal disciplinary body, and the National Supervisory Commission, the highest anti-corruption agency of China. Qiu He and Zhang Tianxin, both were his superiors in Kunming, were sacked for graft. On September 12, he was expelled from the CCP.