Lin Chuan
Taiwanese politician

Lin Chuan (Chinese: 林全; pinyin: Lín Quán; Wade–Giles: Lin² Chʻüan²; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Lîm Choân; born 13 December 1951) is a Taiwanese economist, lawyer, and politician who served as the Premier of the Republic of China from 2016 to 2017. He was the first cabinet head under the Tsai Ing-wen government. Before his premiership, he had also served as the Minister of Budget, Accounting and Statistics and Minister of Finance during Chen Shui-bian's presidency.
Early life and education
Lin was born in Kaohsiung to a waishengren family on 13 December 1951. His ancestral home is in Jiangsu and his family had ties with the Kuomintang. He graduated from Fu Jen Catholic University with a Bachelor of Laws (LL.B.) in 1974 and obtained a Master of Laws (LL.M.) from National Chengchi University in 1978. Lin then pursued graduate studies in the United States, earning his Master of Science (M.S.) in 1982 and his Ph.D. in economics from the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign in 1984. His doctoral dissertation, completed under economist Jan Brueckner, was titled, "The Incidence of the Property Tax."
Career
He served as the Minister of the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics of the Executive Yuan from 2000 to 2002 and Minister of Finance from 2002 to 2006.
After stepping down as finance minister in 2006, Lin served on the board of multiple companies and led two think tanks. He also served within Taipei City Government as head of the city's finance department.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Lin Chuan” is taiwanese politician. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Chuan, Taiwanese and politician, not as a finished interpretation.
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The entry’s evidential value lies in the named roles, institutions and publications that can be tested against primary documentation. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jun 22, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q8997373. VIAF identifies the subject as 304787324. The Library of Congress control number is nr91009383. 1 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1951, 2016, 2017 and 1974.
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This entry incorporates text from “Lin Chuan” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.