Wang Guangtao

Wang was born in Shanghai, in June 1943, while his ancestral home in Xiuning County, Anhui.[1] In 1960, he entered Tongji University, majoring in the Department of Construction.[1] After university in 1965, he became a technician at Xuzhou Urban Construction Bureau (later renamed Xuzhou Urban and Rural Development Commission), and served until 1984.[1] After resuming the college entrance examination in 1978, he received his Master of Engineering degree from Tongji University in 1981.[1] He joined the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in December 1983.[1] He was vice mayor of Xuzhou in 1984, and held that office until 1989.[1]

In December 2001, he was transferred to the Ministry of Construction and appointed director and chief engineer of the Urban Construction Department, that posts he kept until 1995.[1]

In 1995, he was assigned to northeast China's Heilongjiang province and named acting mayor of the capital city Harbin.[1]

He was recalled to Beijing in 1998 and was chosen as vice mayor, a position he held until November 2001.[1] He became minister of Construction in December 2001, and served until March 2008, when he took office as chairperson of the National People's Congress Environment Protection and Resources Conservation Committee.[1][2][3]