The Chinese Communist Party has officially announced a list of central and local press spokespersons for 2021, numbering as many as 262. Not only has a department announced its spokesperson list for the first Time, but all of the central and local spokespersons have been upgraded to serve as officials at the level of deputy ministers or above, and even for the first time, a full ministerial-level official has served as a spokesperson.
Photo: Geng Shuang, former spokesperson of the Chinese Communist Party’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs
The Communist Party’s official spokesperson body is becoming increasingly bloated
The official Chinese Communist Party media Xinhua reported that the Ministry of Propaganda and the State Council Information Office have announced a list of central and local press spokespersons for 2021, increasing the number to 262, an increase of about 3.5 times compared to the 75 spokespersons first announced in 2004.
In 2021, 16 central government departments announced their spokespersons, an increase of three departments compared to 2020, with the Office of the Central Committee for Comprehensively Deepening Reform (OSCR) and the Office of the Central Finance and Economics Commission (OFCEC) announcing their spokespersons for the first time, with Mu Hong (full ministerial level), deputy director of the OSCR, and Han Wenxiu (full ministerial level), deputy director of the OFCEC, respectively. The spokespersons were Mu Hong (at the ministerial level) and Han Wenxiu (at the ministerial level).
Compared with the past, the United Front Work Department of the CPC Central Committee, the Liaison Department and the Central Taiwan Office (Taiwan Office of the State Council, one set of staff, two plates) are the first time to have spokespersons at the level of deputy ministers or above. The spokesperson of the United Front Work Department, while retaining two old spokespersons, Zhang Jian, director of the Research Office of the Central United Front Work Department, and Gao Fei, director of the Propaganda Office, added Xu Yansheng, deputy minister (at full ministerial level) as spokesperson; the spokesperson of the Liaison Department added Guo Yezhou, deputy minister, and Chen Yuanfeng, deputy director of the Central Taiwan Office (at deputy ministerial level) as spokesperson.
The Ministry of Propaganda not only increased the number of spokespersons, but also upgraded the level of officials. Last year it was Guo Weimin, deputy director of the State Council Information Office, and Hu Kaihong, director of the Foreign Press Bureau, who served as spokespersons, but this year it was changed to Xu Lin, vice minister of the Central Propaganda Department, director of the State Council Information Office (at full ministerial level), Chen Wenjun, director of the Foreign Press Bureau, and Shou Xiaoli and Xing Huina, deputy directors.
The spokesperson of the Central Internet Information Office was reduced from six to two, though, with Niu Yibing, deputy director (deputy ministerial level), and Xie Dengke, director of the Internet Communication Bureau.
At the local level, all CPC provincial party committee spokespersons are served by the provincial standing committee members at the vice-provincial level.
Press spokespersons are promoted and parachuted into localities
Every year, the Communist Party releases an updated list of spokespeople, some of whom have been promoted or parachuted to the local level and are no longer serving as spokespeople.
Geng Shuang, formerly deputy director of the Information Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, announced on June 5, 2020 that he was stepping down as spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Subsequently, he officially became China’s Deputy Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary.
Ou Wenhan, who has served as Director of the General Office and Spokesperson of the Ministry of Finance since August 2014, was promoted to Assistant Minister of Finance (Deputy Minister) in December 2019.
Shen Danyang, who was the director of the Policy Research Office of the Ministry of Commerce and spokesperson, and Zhu Guoxian, former head of the Propaganda Department of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and spokesperson, were parachuted to the local level to get reappointed. According to public information, Shen Danyang has served as deputy director of the General Office of the Ministry of Commerce, secretary of the Bureau of International Trade Negotiations of the Ministry of Commerce, director of the Policy Research Office of the Ministry of Commerce and spokesman of the Ministry of Commerce, etc. In July 2018, he was parachuted into Hainan Province as vice governor.
Zhu Guoxian has served as a reporter, deputy director and director of the editorial office of the Zhejiang branch of Xinhua News Agency, deputy director of the Tibet branch of Xinhua News Agency, deputy director and editor-in-chief of the Zhejiang branch of Xinhua News Agency, director of the Guizhou branch of Xinhua News Agency, director of the Xinjiang branch of Xinhua News Agency, director of the propaganda department of the State Supervision Commission of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (deputy ministerial level), etc. Since October 2018, Zhu Guoxian has served as a member of the Standing Committee of the Zhejiang Provincial Party Committee and Minister of the Propaganda Department.
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