Free enterprise – under state mentoring at the very least, let there be no doubt about that – is driving China’s economic miracle. And Yang Yuanqing remains an important cog in that machine.

You won’t read about Yang’s role in Chinese politics in his official biography at Lenovo’s website. But Lenovo’s chairman and chief executive officer is one of the richest men in China, is regarded as the “Bill Gates of China” and is leading the world’s No. 2 PC manufacturer toward the top spot in global sales.

He’s also only 48 years old.

At the same time, Yang is turning Lenovo into a “PC-Plus” company, as he describes it, with the largely China-based company branching aggressively into smartphones, tablets and other Internet-connected devices on a global scale.

So it should come as no surprise that Yang, who recently moved back to China from a home he established in the Triangle after Lenovo bought IBM’s PC division eight years ago, has been reappointed to a very important committee in Beijing.

It’s called the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference.

It includes 2,237 members of China’s elite.

And their purpose is to advise the ruling Chinese Communist Party’s Politburo about to run the country.

How important is the group?

Bloomberg news reports that Yu Zhengsheng, the No. 4 person in the CCP’s leadership, has joined the group as has Robin Li, who runs Internet firm Baidu and is the country’s third richest man.

Interestingly, Yang was already a member.

Next Political Step?

Might the Politburo itself be a possibility for Yang in the future?

While Yang is chairman and CEO of Lenovo, travels the world and often returns to the company’s executive headquarters in Morrisville,  and therefore has his hands quite full, China is gearing up for a “new generation of leaders,” as Bloomberg notes.

Who better to help guide the country some day than someone who started his business career selling PCs from a bicycle and has risen through the ranks to the top of Lenovo’s leadership?

Who better to help lead China than someone who has spent the past eight years incorporating IBM’s PC business into Lenovo, dealing with business and political leaders around the world, and earning a reputation as a top-draw capitalist?

For your information, here is Yang’s official Lenovo biography:

YANG Yuanqing

Chief Executive Officer

“Yang Yuanqing is chairman and chief executive officer of Lenovo. He returned to the chairman post in 2011 and has been leading Lenovo’s global business as CEO since 2009. Mr. Yang has served as chairman of the board of Lenovo Group Limited previously from 2005-2009, after having held the CEO position prior to 2005. Mr. Yang joined Lenovo in 1989. Under his leadership, Lenovo has been China’s best-selling PC brand since 1997. In 1999, Lenovo ranked as first in PC sales in Asia-Pacific (excluding Japan) and has maintained this position ever since.

“Mr. Yang has been named “Asian Businessman of the Year,” Forbes Asia. He also was named as one of the “Stars of Asia” by BusinessWeek magazine and has been selected by the Chinese media as one of China’s “Ten Star Entrepreneurs” and “Ten Most Valuable Managers.” He was also named by CCTV as a “Man of the Year” in 2004. He holds a master’s degree from the Department of Computer Science at the University of Science and Technology of China. Mr. Yang is also a member of the National Youth Association Committee, director of China’s Entrepreneurs’ Association, a guest professor at the University of Science and Technology of China, and a member of the New York Stock Exchange’s International Advisory Committee.”

[LENOVO ARCHIVE: Check out eight years of Lenovo stories as reported in WRAL Tech Wire.]