Han Jun, an expert on the "three rural" issues, served as the secretary of the party group of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs

Interface News Reporter | Zhai Ruimin

Interface News Editor | Liu Haichuan

On June 28, 2024, Xinhua News Agency announced that a few days ago, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China decided: Comrade Han Jun will no longer serve as secretary, member of the Standing Committee, and member of the Anhui Provincial Party Committee, and will be appointed separately. On the same day, the website of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs announced that the relevant responsible comrades of the Organization Department of the Central Committee attended the meeting of leading cadres of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs and announced the decision of the Central Committee: Comrade Han Jun was appointed secretary of the party group of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs.

Han Jun is currently a member of the 20th Central Committee.

One of Du Runsheng's "disciples".

According to the public resume, Han Jun is of Han nationality, born in December 1963, and is a native of Gaoqing, Shandong. After the resumption of the college entrance examination, Han Jun was admitted to the Department of Agricultural Economics of Shandong Agricultural University, and after graduating in 1983, he entered Northwest Agricultural University to study for a postgraduate degree in the Department of Agricultural Economics, and obtained a doctorate degree in May 1989. After graduation, Han Jun joined the Rural Development Research Center of the State Council and became one of Du Runsheng's "disciples".

Du Runsheng, former director of the Rural Policy Research Office of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and former director of the Rural Development Research Center of the State Council, is known as the "father of China's rural reform". After Du Runsheng's death in 2015, Han Jun once wrote an article mentioning that he was fortunate to be appreciated by Du Lao, and under his direct inquiry, he had the opportunity to enter the long-admired "No. 9 Courtyard" and become a member of the "Du Runsheng's disciples and grandchildren". "Every time I think of Du Lao and I in my life, but he gave me the greatest help in my life and changed the fate of my life, my heart is full of infinite gratitude, emotion and warmth." Han Jun said.

In December 1989, Han Jun was transferred to the Institute of Rural Development of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, and in 1996, he was promoted to deputy director of the Institute of Rural Development of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, and in 2001, he became the director of the Rural Department of the Development Research Center of the State Council, and 10 years later, he served as the deputy director of the Development Research Center of the State Council and a member of the party group.

In October 2014, Han Jun was transferred to the deputy director of the Office of the Central Leading Group for Financial and Economic Work, and became one of the deputies of Liu He, then director of the Central Finance Office. Later, he also served as deputy director and director of the Office of the Central Rural Work Leading Group. In March 2018, after the institutional reform, Han Jun served as Deputy Secretary of the Party Leadership Group and Vice Minister of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs.

In November 2020, Han Jun "parachuted" Jilin to serve as deputy secretary of the provincial party committee and then governor. In March 2023, Han Jun was appointed Secretary of the Anhui Provincial Party Committee, and in January 2024, he also served as the Chairman of the Standing Committee of the Anhui Provincial People's Congress.

On the eve of stepping down as secretary of the provincial party committee, many places in Anhui Province were hit by torrential rains and floods. On June 20, when inspecting the disaster situation on the spot, Han Jun stressed that it is necessary to resolutely win the tough battle of flood prevention and disaster relief, and make every effort to ensure the basic livelihood of the people affected by the disaster and the safety of people's lives and property.

Han Jun is a scholar-type official, who has been engaged in the research of agriculture, rural areas, and peasant issues for a long time, and has published books such as "Investigation of China's Rural Areas", "Research on China's County and Township Finance and Farmers' Burdens", and "Research on the Strategic Issues of China's Migrant Workers". Since 1993, he has enjoyed the special government allowance of the State Council, served as the keynote speaker of the 11th collective study of the Political Bureau of the 17th CPC Central Committee, and participated in the drafting of the documents of the Third Plenary Session of the 17th CPC Central Committee and the No. 1 Document of the Central Committee.

The "Official Inspection Office" of the magazine "Integrity Outlook" once issued an article introducing that all walks of life commented on Han Jun's "outspokenness". At a symposium convened by the leaders of the State Council, Han Jun proposed that to solve the "three rural" problems, we should "grit our teeth, stomp our feet, and make practical moves". Rural reform and agricultural development all require financial support, and to put it bluntly, money must be paid.

The new head of the "three rural" work

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs is a department of the State Council and a ministry-level unit. During the institutional reform in 2018, the former Ministry of Agriculture integrated the responsibilities of the National Development and Reform Commission and other departments related to the management of agricultural investment projects, and re-established the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, with Han Changfu as the party secretary and minister.

After November 2020, Tang Renjian, who was currently serving as governor of Gansu Province, was transferred back to Beijing to take over the post of party secretary and minister of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs. However, Tang Renjian failed to persist until the end of his term, and on May 18, 2024, the website of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and the State Supervision Commission announced that Tang Renjian was under review and investigation on suspicion of serious violations of discipline and law.

As the highest state administrative department in charge of China's food security and the "three rural" work, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs has a complex work and at the same time a heavy responsibility, and it is urgent to appoint a new head of the family to take charge of the overall situation as soon as possible. In the more than one month since Tang Renjian was investigated, the daily work of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs has been mainly presided over by several senior leaders such as Deng Xiaogang, the current vice minister.

Previously, the Central Rural Work Conference held at the end of 2023 arranged the deployment of the "three rural" work, emphasizing that it is necessary to ensure that the grain output in 2024 will remain above 1.3 trillion catties, implement the monitoring and assistance mechanism to prevent poverty return, implement the action of increasing farmers' income, and thoroughly implement the action of improving the rural living environment, so as to promote the integrated development of urban and rural areas at the county level.

Deng Xiaogang, Vice Minister of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, pointed out in January 2024 when introducing this year's work arrangements at the press conference of the State Council Information Office that the Ministry will focus on the main line of promoting the comprehensive revitalization of the countryside and accelerating the construction of an agricultural power, highlighting the two major work sectors. One is agricultural production, which focuses on food security, focusing on ensuring a stable and safe supply of grain and important agricultural products; The other is rural revitalization, which focuses on rural development and construction, focusing on consolidating and expanding the achievements of poverty alleviation and building livable, workable and beautiful villages.

Recently, the continental climate has obvious characteristics of flooding in the south and drought in the north, which has adversely affected grain and agricultural production. The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs has dispatched four working groups led by departmental and bureau-level cadres and 10 science and technology teams to eight provinces, including Zhejiang, which have been severely affected by the disaster, to guide all localities to do a good job in flood prevention and flood control, and to do a good job in agricultural disaster prevention, mitigation and relief.

Regarding the "three rural" work, Han Jun said in the above-mentioned article commemorating Du Runsheng that to do a good job in rural reform, we must grasp the direction on the whole, prevent rural reform from going off track, and avoid making irreparable directional mistakes. At no time should we ignore the peasants and ignore the well-being of the peasants, but we must always keep the peasants in mind, respect the wishes of the peasants, and strive to solve the problems of the peasants' most concerning, most direct, and most realistic interests.

In January 2019, Han Jun, as the vice minister of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, said at a public forum that adhering to the priority development of agriculture and rural areas is a long-term policy that must be adhered to to to do a good job in the "three rural" work, and the "four priorities" must be realized, that is, priority is given to cadre allocation, priority is given to the allocation of factors, priority is given to capital investment, priority is given to public services, and the shortcomings of agriculture and rural areas must be made up for at an accelerated pace.

In June 2019, Han Jun also said at the press conference of the State Council Information Office that as the number of rural populations continues to decrease, many rural villages have become hollowed out and farmers are aging, and the problem of "three left-behind" in rural areas is prominent; The gap between urban and rural public services is still large; In some places, rural grassroots party organizations are weak and slack; the system of democratic management at the grassroots level in rural areas is not perfect; In some places, there are still quite a few illegal and criminal activities, and the activities of underworld forces occur from time to time; In some places, bad habits are prevalent, and the sky-high bride price makes people "unaffordable", and the various gifts of favor make people "unaffordable"; Wait a minute.

Han Jun said that to consolidate the party's ruling foundation in the rural areas, realize the comprehensive revitalization of the rural areas, and meet the needs of the peasant masses for a better life, it is necessary to focus on solving the outstanding problems in rural social governance.