Local officials at the provincial level of the Communist Party of China (CPC) will be transferred very frequently in 2020.
Local officials at the provincial level of the Communist Party of China (CPC) will be transferred very frequently in 2020, with at least 25 provincial party secretaries and governors being replaced, including 10 provincial party secretaries. In addition to the normal personnel transfer, Zhongnanhai has also left a backhand in the personnel layout of the 20th National Congress.
On February 13, 2020, Jiang Chaoliang, then secretary of the Hubei Provincial Party Committee, was removed from his post and replaced by Ying Yong, then mayor of Shanghai, due to public discontent over his ineffective response to the Wuhan pneumonia outbreak.
BBC News reported that Ying Yong was transferred from Shanghai to Hubei to “put out the fire”, although he was from the political and legal system, but he was trusted by Xi Jinping. This was the highest-level personnel change in Hubei province, which was at the center of the Wuhan pneumonia epidemic at the time.
On July 31, then-Shaanxi Provincial Party Secretary Hu Heping was transferred to the position of Vice Minister of the Propaganda Department and Minister of Culture and Tourism, while then-Governor Liu Guozhong was promoted to Shaanxi Provincial Party Secretary.
Commentary and analysis by Chinese media in Hong Kong and overseas suggest that Hu Heping still has the advantage of promotion at his age according to the CCP’s official practice, but the transfer of a local hand to a relatively lighter central department at the same level is not a good sign. But it also reflects a shift in thinking about hiring at the top of Zhongnanhai.
At the end of August, Zhang Guoqing, then mayor of Tianjin, was promoted to be the secretary of Liaoning Provincial Party Committee, Yuan Jiajun, then governor of Zhejiang Province, was promoted to be the secretary of the provincial party committee, and on November 20, the CPC Central Committee decided to promote Chen Yiqin, then governor of Guizhou Province, to be the secretary of the provincial party committee, Ruan Chengfa, governor of Yunnan Province, to be the secretary of the provincial party committee, Xu Dazhe, governor of Hunan Province, to be the secretary of the provincial party committee, and Jing Junhai, governor of Jilin Province, to be the secretary of the provincial party committee.
However, according to an article in Ming Pao, as the first wave of personnel adjustment after the Fifth Plenary Session of the 19th CPC National Congress, the adjustment of Guizhou, Yunnan, Hunan and Jilin provincial party secretaries in November was a bit hasty, as there was no report of the Politburo meeting before the announcement of the personnel adjustment plan, so the appointment may have been made without the discussion of the Politburo.
“Tianjun Political Economy” researcher Ren Chongdao believes that the former provincial party secretaries of these provinces are basically to the age of 65 years old, the retirement age of provincial officials, leaving the second line, so belong to the normal personnel transfer. Ruan Chengfa has been under the most pressure since September, when a patient with Wuhan pneumonia was diagnosed in Yunnan province and a “square cabin hospital” was built; then a plague patient was diagnosed and an emergency response mechanism for public health emergencies was launched. In addition, drug smuggling activities are frequent along the Yunnan border, which could easily become a major crime if not handled properly and affect Ruan Chengfa’s official position. In addition, Ruan Chengfa is 63 years old and, like 64-year-old Hunan Provincial Party Secretary Xu Dazhe, faces retirement before the 20th Communist Party Congress, perhaps leaving a wiggle room for personnel layout in Zhongnanhai.
On November 30, the Political Bureau meeting of the CPC Central Committee decided to promote Yin Li, then governor of Sichuan province, to become the secretary of Fujian provincial party committee, and Shen Xiaoming, governor of Hainan province, to become the secretary of the provincial party committee. According to his official resume, Yin Li holds a doctorate in health economics and health business management from the Institute of Social Health, Economics and Health Business Management of the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences, and Shen Xiaoming also has a doctorate in medicine.
In this regard, Ren Chongdao, a researcher of “Tianjun Political Economy”, said that Yin Li’s appointment as secretary of the Fujian Provincial Party Committee is clearly intended to stabilize this province, which is very important for Taiwan‘s united war. In the face of Taiwan’s success in preventing the epidemic, the Chinese Communist Party naturally does not want to let the other side of the Taiwan Strait see the joke and lose face in an embarrassing situation. However, judging from the current trend of the epidemic, the probability of the CCP being mocked by Taiwan is very high.
At the moment, Hainan Province seems to be calm and not affected by the Wuhan pneumonia outbreak. However, in June this year, the official “General Plan for the Construction of Hainan Free Trade Port” was published, including the implementation of zero tariffs across the island. From July 1 this year, the annual duty-free shopping quota for Hainan’s outlying islands was raised from 30,000 yuan to 100,000 yuan per person, and the duty-free limit of 8,000 yuan for a single item was abolished, as well as seven new categories of goods favored by consumers, such as cell phones and tablet computers. These have led to rapid growth in tourism consumption in Hainan Province, and could also be a potential hidden danger for an outbreak.
A document circulating on the internet, a notice of the province’s emergency plan to deal with the fall and winter epidemic issued by the CCP’s Wuhan Pneumonia Epidemic Prevention and Control Command in Hainan Province on August 27, shows that Hainan Province is not a clean slate. However, on September 8, the CCP held a national commendation meeting in Beijing to celebrate the “success of the fight against the epidemic”! Therefore, Shen Xiaoming’s promotion to secretary of Hainan’s provincial party committee at this time is intended not only to appease officials, but also to protect the economy of Hainan’s free zone.
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