ASIA/CHINA – Duan Yijun appointed new Director of the Chinese Department of Religious Affairs

Beijing – Today, October 23, Duan Yijun, born in 1967, was appointed the new Director of the National Religious Affairs Administration of the United Front Work Department of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party. As part of the institutional reform of the Communist Party and the State in 2018, the Department of Religious Affairs was integrated into the Central United Front Work Department of the Central Committee.
According to the official Chinese news agency Xinhua, his predecessor, Chen Ruifeng has already assumed the new positions of Deputy head of the Central United Front Work Department and director of the State Commission for Ethnic Affairs since September.

Duan Yijun himself was previously Deputy Director of the State Commission for Ethnic Affairs, of which he had been a member since July 2023.

According to official Chinese websites, Duan Yijun was born in the city of Leshan, Sichuan Province. He graduated from the University of Electronic Science and Technology of China in 1990 and earned a Doctorate in Law. He joined the Communist Party of China in July 1994. He has always worked in his hometown, Sichuan Province, where he also focused on important issues of civil coexistence, such as prevention and strategies for territorial assistance in the event of geological and natural disasters. Previously, he also served as Secretary of the County Party Committee; as a member of the Standing Committee and Secretary-General of the Party committees of Ganzi Prefecture and Kangding Prefecture; as Deputy Director of the Provincial Public Security Department; Deputy Director of the Provincial Work Safety Supervision Office; and as Director of the Provincial Emergency Management Department. In 2021, he became secretary of the Liangshan Prefectural Party Committee and was promoted to Vice Governor of Sichuan Province in January 2023.