Zhou Yongkang, male, Han nationality, is a native of Wuxi City, Jiangsu Province. He was born in December 1942, joined the CPC in November 1964 and entered the workforce in September 1966. Zhou graduated from the Survey and Exploration Department of Beijing Petroleum Institute in 1966, where he majored in geophysical survey and exploration. As a university graduate, he holds the title of Senior Engineer with a rank equivalent to that of Professor.
Zhou spent the 1960s and 1970's in the oil sector. By the mid-1980s, he was vice minister of Petroleum Industry and from 1996, general manager of China National Petroleum Corporation. In 1998 he was Minister of Land and Resources and in 1999, secretary of the CPC Sichuan Provincial Committee. He was Minister of Public Security from 2003 to 2007.
Zhou was an alternate member of the 14th CPC Central Committee and a member of the 15th and 16th CPC Central Committees. He served as State Councilor of the State Council from 2003-2008.
Zhou was a member of the Politburo Standing Committee of the 17th CPC Central Committee, Secretary of the Politics and Law of Commission of the CPC Central Committee, Director of the Public Security Commission CPC Central Committee and Chairman of 17th CPC Central Committee Politics and Law Committee.
In July 2014, the CPC placed Zhou Yongkang under investigation for suspected "serious disciplinary violation." On Dec. 6 2014, he was arrested and expelled from the CPC.