The governor is elected by the Shanxi Provincial People's Congress, and responsible to it and its Standing Committee.

The governor is a provincial level official and is responsible for the overall decision-making of the provincial government.

The governor generally serves as the deputy secretary of the Shanxi Provincial Committee of the Chinese Communist Party and as a member of the CCP Central Committee.

The governor the second-highest ranking official in the province after the secretary of the CCP Shanxi Committee.

[1] The current governor is Jin Xiangjun, who took office on 29 December 2022.