--- description: Wang Qishan is on the TIME 100 2017 list. Zoher Abdoolcarim wrote about the politician. title: Wang Qishan by Zoher Abdoolcarim: TIME 100 image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbef633a55a6b8d6c/6988c344fb4eac57e1891904/time-100-2017-wang-qishan.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 --- Apr 19, 2017 # Wang Qishan by Zoher Abdoolcarim  Photograph by Wang Zhao—AFP/Getty Images If Xi Jinping is China’s “core leader,” then Wang Qishan is his enforcer. A banker by profession, Wang used to be China’s point man on the economy. Now he follows the money in a different way. As head of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, Wang has prosecuted, jailed or censured tens of thousands of officials and businesspeople in a relentless campaign against corruption. His actions have considerable public support. But because bribes big and small grease China’s wheels of commerce up and down the line, the drive has hit consumption, at least the conspicuous kind, as many people hide how cash-rich they are. There’s a political impact too: boss Xi can take out rivals under the cover of fighting graft. Wang’s fearsome, and feared, offensive has effectively made him China’s second most powerful individual. At home and abroad, Wang is known as a straight shooter. Today, no Chinese wants to be in his sights. _Abdoolcarim is TIME’s Asia editor_ ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https://time.com/collections/2017-time-100/4742836/wang-qishan/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/collections/2017-time-100/4742836/wang-qishan/"},"headline":"Wang Qishan","datePublished":"2017-04-19T18:06:32.000Z","dateModified":"2026-07-21T07:22:01.003Z","description":"Wang Qishan is on the TIME 100 2017 list. Zoher Abdoolcarim wrote about the politician.","url":"https://time.com/collections/2017-time-100/4742836/wang-qishan/","keywords":["TIME 100"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbef633a55a6b8d6c/6988c344fb4eac57e1891904/time-100-2017-wang-qishan.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"creator":"TIME Staff","articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbef633a55a6b8d6c/6988c344fb4eac57e1891904/time-100-2017-wang-qishan.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/collections/2017-time-100/4742836/wang-qishan/","name":"Wang Qishan"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"See All the TIME 100 Honorees in One Minute","description":"The TIME 100 honorees include actors, musicians, politicians, business leaders, activists and scientists, and together make a portrait of influence in 2017.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/zZCdrcRA/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2017-04-20T10:30:45.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/zZCdrcRA.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/collections/2017-time-100/4742836/wang-qishan/","duration":"PT56S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/collections/2017-time-100/4742836/wang-qishan/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```