Minister of Commerce Bo Xilai, a native from Shanxi Province's Dingrang, was born in July 1949. He began work in January 1968 and joined the Communist Party of China (CPC) in October 1980. Bo worked at the Hardware Repair Factory for the Beijing Second Light Industry Bureau before he was admitted to the Peking University Department of History, majoring in world history, in 1977. He later graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree. In 1982, he graduated from the Postgraduate Institute of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences with a Master degree. Bo successively worked with the Research Office of the CPC Central Committee Secretariat and CPC Central Committee General Office, and served as deputy secretary and secretary of the Jinxian County Party Committee in Liaoning, deputy secretary and secretary of the Party Committee of the Dalian Economic and Technological Development Zone, secretary of the Jinzhou Prefectural Party Committee in Liaoning, standing committee member of the Dalian Municipal Party Committee, deputy mayor of Dalian, and deputy secretary of Dalian Municipal Party Committee. He took up the post of acting mayor of Dalian in 1992 and mayor of Dalian from 1993. He was elected as deputy secretary of CPC Dalian Municipal Committee in June 1995. In January 1998, he was re-elected mayor of Dalian. In September 1999, he served as secretary of the CPC Dalian Municipal Committee. In January 2001, he served as vice governor and acting governor of Liaoning Province. In February of the same year, he served as governor of Liaoning. He was elected as standing committee member and deputy secretary of the ninth CPC Liaoning Provincial Committee the following October. In January 2003, Bo was elected as governor of Liaoning at the first session of the tenth Liaoning People's Congress. Bo is currently serving as a member of the 16th CPC Central Committee. He won the title of National Model for Respecting the Elderly in 1995. In September 1999, he won the UN-Habitat Scroll of Honor Award for his brilliant contributions to housing construction and sustainable development. In February, 2004, he was named as the Minister of Commerce.