Song Defu

This is a Chinese name; the family name is Song.

Song Defu (Chinese: 宋德福; pinyin: Sòng Défú; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Song Tek-hok; February 1946 - September 13, 2007) was a Chinese politician. He joined the People's Liberation Army in 1965, and the Communist Party of China the same year. He was an alternate member of CPC's 12th central committee, and a member of 13th - 16th central committee. He was a member of standing committee of the 9th National Political Consultative Conference. His former posts include the first secretary of central secretariat of Communist Youth League, Minister of Personnel, vice director of central specialists coordination group, the secretary of CPC's Fujian committee, the chairman of standing committee of Fujian people's congress. He died of disease at 4:56 am on September 13, 2007 in Beijing, at age of 61.

Biography

Song Defu was born into the family of a Communist Party official in Yanshan, Hebei Province. He joined the army at 19, and retired from service in 1993. Thanks to the recommendation of the army, he entered Communist Youth League headquarters as a Secretary of its Secretariat in 1983, and worked closely with Hu Jintao, who led the Youth League at the time. In 1985, he succeeded Hu as the First Secretary of Communist Youth League. Meanwhile, he also served as deputy director of organization department of General Political Department in the army. From 1985 to 1993, he remained a major leader of Communist Youth League. His colleagues at Youth League during that time included some prominent figures in future Chinese politics, such as Liu Yandong, Zhang Baoshun, Li Keqiang, Li Yuanchao, Liu Qibao, and Yuan Chunqing.

In 1993, Song entered the state council and became the Minister of Personnel. At age of 47, he was then the youngest minister in the government. From 2000 to 2004, Song served as the party chief of Fujian province. In 2002, the new generation of leaders emerged in China, and Song was seen as having a promising future. Song was regarded as a leader with the most abundant political experience, including not only military background, but also positions ranging from Communist Youth League, major ministry of the state, and stints in provincial government. However, due to health problems, Song ultimately could not realize his ambition on a larger political stage. In December 2004, Song was relieved of his duties as party chief of Fujian, succeeded by Lu Zhangong. Although the party never released the reason for his departure, it was widely believed that poor health was the reason. Hong Kong media reported that Song may have had lung cancer. In 2005 he was named the deputy head of a coordination committee for "identifying talent".

Song died in 2007 at the age of 61. At his funeral, following his will, he was wearing military uniform and red tie. His body was covered by the flag of Communist Party of China, and the flag of Communist Youth League was placed by his head.

External links

• (Chinese) Song Defu's page at xinhuanet.com

Party political offices
Preceded by Hu Jintao	First Secretary of the Communist Youth League of China 1985 – 1993	Succeeded by Li Keqiang
Preceded by Chen Mingyi	Communist Party Secretary of Fujian 2000 – 2004	Succeeded by Lu Zhangong