All Chinese Presidents in the Last 32 Years Are Graduates of Elite Engineering Universities

Written by Bruno Teles

Published on 17/04/2025 at 15:20

Desde 1993, todos os presidentes da China têm formação em engenharia. Entenda como isso influenciou o crescimento industrial do país e o que o Brasil pode aprender com esse modelo.

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Technical Management at the Helm of the Second Largest Economy in the World Is Solidly Based on Engineering Education

Since 1993, all presidents of China have an engineering background. The high technical and academic standard has been maintained for over three decades, a period during which the country underwent intense industrialization, modernization, and growth.

Jiang Zemin, Hu Jintao, and Xi Jinping: Three Engineers in Charge

Jiang Zemin, president from 1993 to 2003, was a electrical engineer graduated from National Chiao Tung University. He served as mayor of Shanghai and minister of industries before leading the country.

His successor, Hu Jintao, graduated in hydroelectric engineering from Tsinghua University, considered the best in China. He had a prominent role in infrastructure projects, including the Three Gorges Dam, the largest hydroelectric plant in the world.

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Industrial Growth Driven by Engineers

According to Anderson Correia, a full professor and former Rector of ITA, over the past 32 years, under the leadership of Chinese presidents with engineering backgrounds, the country has grown by nearly 10% per year on average. This progress was supported by industrial and technological policies articulated by leaders with technical knowledge.

In addition to the presidency, engineering is valued at all levels of public management. Annually, China graduates 3.5 million professionals in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) fields.

The Contrast with Brazil

Brazil has never elected a president with an engineering degree. Two engineers have reached the position indirectly: Aureliano Chaves, as interim, and Itamar Franco, after the impeachment of Fernando Collor.

This contrast reveals differences in approach between the countries. While Chinese presidents have a technical background and focus on industrial development, Brazil still lacks a culture of valuing technical education in high public management.

All Chinese Presidents in the Last 32 Years Are Graduates of Elite Engineering Universities

Technical Management at the Helm of the Second Largest Economy in the World Is Solidly Based on Engineering Education

Jiang Zemin, Hu Jintao, and Xi Jinping: Three Engineers in Charge

Industrial Growth Driven by Engineers

The Contrast with Brazil

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All Chinese Presidents in the Last 32 Years Are Graduates of Elite Engineering Universities

Technical Management at the Helm of the Second Largest Economy in the World Is Solidly Based on Engineering Education

Jiang Zemin, Hu Jintao, and Xi Jinping: Three Engineers in Charge

Industrial Growth Driven by Engineers

The Contrast with Brazil

A giant printer called the “Ferrari” of concrete has landed in Latin America and can already build a 120-square-meter house in just 48 hours, making the traditional construction site look like something from the last century.

A British company has installed in the middle of the ocean the world’s first floating platform that generates electricity 24 hours a day from the temperature difference between the surface and the depths of the Atlantic, without relying on wind or sun.

Great Atlantic Sargassum Belt has ceased to be a climatic phenomenon and has become a biological system that feeds on itself, with 8,000 kilometers in length, 37 million tons of algae, and scientists confirm that it is now permanent.

China is building an artificial island in the middle of the sea, covering 20 km², to construct the largest offshore airport in the world, the Dalian Jinzhouwan. This $4.3 billion project is anchored on more than 3,000 pillars embedded in the rock beneath the ocean and is scheduled to open in 2035.

A robot named Walter does the work of five bricklayers per hour and can save the construction industry, where the average age of professionals is 46 years and almost no one wants to learn the trade anymore, in the United Kingdom.

Engineers had to pour concrete mixed with tons of ice throughout entire nights in the Dubai desert to erect the Burj Khalifa; any carelessness could clog the pipes half a mile high.

The James Webb telescope spotted a planet 700 light-years from Earth with mornings full of sand clouds and nights with clear skies, the temperature difference between the two hemispheres reaches an impressive 170 degrees.

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Physics has been challenged: researchers have discovered something that moves faster than the speed of light, but the phenomenon does not break relativity because it involves dark patterns within optical vortices.

Europe is “frying” with records: United Kingdom records 35°C, France reaches 35°C, and Spain and Portugal face heat close to 40°C in May as a heatwave advances across the continent.

On the other side of the planet, a Brazilian doctor operates on a patient in Porto Alegre while being in China, almost 19,000 km away, using a surgical robot that responds in 200 milliseconds in a procedure that seems like science fiction.

China outpaces Elon Musk with Unitree humanoid robot available on AliExpress for $6,800, with free shipping and international delivery, turning billionaire technology into something anyone can buy online.