Personnel information | Cases when the qualification of people’s congress representative will be terminated

Recently, the local people’s congresses at the provincial and municipal levels have been convened in succession, and the representative qualifications of some representatives have been terminated due to corresponding announcements.
On January 13th, the “Hefei People’s Congress” official WeChat account published an announcement from the Standing Committee of Hefei People’s Congress. It was mentioned that the Standing Committee of Shushan District has decided to accept the resignation of Yu Aihua from his position as a representative of the 17th Hefei People’s Congress. In accordance with the relevant provisions of the Law of the People’s Republic of China on the National People’s Congress and Local People’s Congresses, Yu Aihua’s representative qualification has been terminated.
Yu Aihua is a male of Han ethnicity, born in September 1965 in Tianchang, Anhui province. He began working in July 1989 and joined the Communist Party of China in October 1988. He holds a philosophy degree and is currently a member of the 20th Central Committee candidate.
Yu Aihua previously worked at the Propaganda Department of the Anhui Provincial Party Committee and the Provincial Political Consultative Conference Office, and then went on to serve as the mayor of Xuancheng and Anqing cities, as well as the secretary of Anqing Municipal Party Committee. In March 2016, Yu Aihua returned to serve as the deputy director of the Propaganda Department of the Anhui Provincial Party Committee, and in November of that year, he was appointed as a member of the Standing Committee of Anhui Provincial Party Committee and head of the Propaganda Department. In May 2020, Yu Aihua was appointed as a member of the Standing Committee of Anhui Provincial Party Committee and secretary of Hefei Municipal Party Committee, which he continued to hold until he was appointed as deputy secretary of Anhui Provincial Party Committee in January 2024.
The termination of a deputy’s qualification is governed by strict legal provisions and procedures. According to Article 49 of the Law of the People’s Republic of China on the National People’s Congress and Local People’s Congresses, a deputy’s qualification shall be terminated in any of the following circumstances: (1) if the deputy moves out or transfers away from their administrative region; (2) if they resign and their resignation is accepted; (3) if they fail to attend two sessions of their level of people’s congress without permission; (4) if they are removed from office; (5) if they lose their citizenship; (6) if they are deprived of political rights in accordance with law; or (7) if they lose their capacity to act.
Article 50 stipulates that the termination of qualification for representatives at or above the county level shall be reported by the Credentials Committee to the Standing Committee of the people’s congress at the same level, and shall be announced by the Standing Committee.
Among them, representative resignation refers to the act of a representative voluntarily requesting to terminate their representative position during their term of office. There are several reasons why a representative may resign during their term, such as job transfer, physical inability to perform their duties or resignation due to violations or negligence.
Loss of capacity and removal from office are also common reasons for terminating representative qualifications. Among them, a representative passing away is one scenario leading to loss of capacity.
On January 11th, the People’s Congress of Henan Province announced that Tang Xiantai, who was elected as a delegate to the 14th National People’s Congress from Hebi City, passed away due to illness. The Henan Provincial People’s Congress expressed its condolences to Tang Xiantai’s passing and his representative qualification was naturally terminated. Tang Xiantai was previously serving as a member of the Standing Committee of Hebi City and director of both the Municipal Party Committee Discipline Inspection Commission and Supervisory Commission.
On January 12th, the People’s Congress of Guangdong Province announced that Yang Chaoqin, who was elected as a representative from Dongguan City on its official website on January 4th but passed away later that year due to illness, had her representative qualification terminated naturally. Yang Chaoqin previously served as a member of the management committee for Songshan Lake High-tech Industrial Development Zone and deputy director of Dongguan Municipal Bureau of Justice before being appointed as Director General of Dongguan Market Supervision Bureau in May 2023.
The removal of representatives is one of the most severe supervisory measures used by legislatures on representatives who lose voter trust due to misconduct or poor performance. The reasons for removing representatives are not specified by law but generally include any situation where representatives lose voter or election unit trust, such as criminal behavior or serious negligence in their duties. The law does not set specific limits on these conditions with its purpose being to fully protect people’s rights from irresponsible