Bo Xilai, male, Han nationality, is a native of Dingxiang County of Shanxi Province. He was born in 1949, started to work in 1968 and joined the CPC in 1980. He studied at Beijing University from 1978-1979 and graduated from the graduate school of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences with a master's degree in journalism in 1982.
An historian and journalist by training, Bo has spent his entire career in Liaoning Province, especially in the capital city of Dalian. After holding Party and government positions at the county level, he became an official in the Dalian City Government, and in 1993 became mayor. In 1999, he was secretary of the CPC Dalian City Committee and in 2001, became governor of Liaoning Province. Bo was a member of the 16th CPC Central Committee and served as Minister of Commerce from 2004 - 2007.
He was secretary of the Chongqing Municipal CPC Committee from 2007 to 2012. He was removed as a a member of the Politboro of the 17th CPC Central Committee and a removed as a member of the 17th CPC Central Committee in 2012.