From Zhu Rongji to Wang Qishan, reins pass at a back channel of Chinese diplomacy

Former Chinese vice-president Wang Qishan has replaced ex-premier Zhu Rongji as honorary chairman of a high-profile multinational academic board that serves as a key “track 1.5” diplomacy channel for Beijing.

The advisory board of the Tsinghua University school of economics and management was founded by Zhu in the year 2000 to be a platform for dialogue among the world’s business titans, leading academics and Chinese officials.

Tsinghua University president Li Luming conveyed a message of regards from Zhu when the board met for its annual meeting in Beijing last Friday.

“Tsinghua will continue to be open-minded and spare no effort to nurture high-quality innovation talent to cope with new challenges and the complicated [international] situation,” Li said, according to a statement posted on the university’s social media account on Thursday.

The notice referred to Wang as honorary chairman of the advisory board and Zhu as the “founding honorary chairman”.

Zhu, China’s “economic tsar” and premier from 1998 to 2003, graduated from Tsinghua with a degree in electrical engineering in 1951.