Personnel News | Which Municipal Party Committee Secretaries Are Concurrently Served as Provincial Party Committee Standing Committee Members

Recently, there have been coordinated adjustments in the party secretaries of cities like Nanjing, Jiangsu, and Sanya, Hainan, who are concurrently served by provincial party standing committee members.

According to a report from Hainan Radio and Television Station on December 3, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China recently approved Wang Qiyang as a member and standing committee member of the Hainan Provincial Party Committee. The Hainan Provincial Party Committee subsequently decided that Wang Qiyang would also serve as a member, standing committee member, and secretary of the Sanya Municipal Party Committee.

Wang Qiyang, a male of Han ethnicity born in Guangshui, Hubei in November 1968, with ancestral roots in Gao’an, Jiangxi, holds a Ph.D. in Management from Zhongnan University of Economics and Law and an MBA from the University of Hull, UK. He joined the workforce in July 1991 and became a member of the Communist Party of China in January 1991.

Wang Qiyang has worked in Hubei Province for a long time, serving in various positions such as Chairman and Party Secretary of Hubei Broadcasting and Television Information Network Co., Ltd., Secretary and Director of the Provincial Economy and Information Technology Commission, and Secretary and Director of the Provincial Economy and Information Technology Department. In 2020, he became the Party Secretary of Jingmen City.

In 2022, Wang Qiyang was appointed as a member of the Hubei Provincial Party Standing Committee and the Party Secretary of Xiangyang City.

Earlier, Zhou Hongbo, the former member of the Hainan Provincial Party Standing Committee and Party Secretary of Sanya City, was appointed as a member of the Jiangsu Provincial Party Standing Committee and the Party Secretary of Nanjing City.

Both Xiangyang and Sanya are among the few prefecture-level cities in recent years where the party secretary is concurrently served by a provincial party standing committee member.

Which city party secretaries are concurrently served by provincial party standing committee members?

Currently, the party secretaries of 27 provincial capitals and municipalities directly under the central government (including 10 sub-provincial cities: Guangzhou, Wuhan, Nanjing, Chengdu, Xi’an, Hangzhou, Jinan, Harbin, Shenyang, and Changchun) as well as 5 special administrative regions (Shenzhen, Xiamen, Ningbo, Qingdao, and Dalian) are all concurrently served by provincial party standing committee members, many of whom are also deputy secretaries of the provincial party committees.

The party secretaries of the five special administrative regions are: Meng Fanli, Deputy Secretary of the Guangdong Provincial Party Committee and Party Secretary of Shenzhen; Cui Yonghui, Member of the Fujian Provincial Party Standing Committee and Party Secretary of Xiamen; Peng Jiaxue, Member of the Zhejiang Provincial Party Standing Committee and Party Secretary of Ningbo; Xiong Maoping, Member of the Liaoning Provincial Party Standing Committee and Party Secretary of Dalian; and Zeng Zanrong, Member of the Shandong Provincial Party Standing Committee and Party Secretary of Qingdao.

Research articles point out that in China’s urban system, sub-provincial cities have a “flattened” political and economic structure, characterized by large economic scale, small administrative areas, high levels of urbanization, and high-level political appointments. They are important growth poles in various regional economic sectors in China.

Beyond the aforementioned “27+5” cities, there are also some prefecture-level cities nationwide where the party secretary is concurrently served by a provincial party standing committee member. These cities typically have significant economic importance or are historic revolutionary bases.

For example, in Suzhou, the strongest prefecture-level city in China, the party secretary Liu Xiaotao is also a member of the Jiangsu Provincial Party Standing Committee; in Luoyang, the second-largest city in Henan, the party secretary Jiang Ling is also a member of the Henan Provincial Party Standing Committee; and in Baotou, the second-largest city in Inner Mongolia, the party secretary Ding Xiufeng is a member of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region Party Standing Committee.

Sanya, where Wang Qiyang has taken up a new position, is also a major tourism and economic city in Hainan Province.

Another example is Xigaze, located in the southwestern Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and serving as a regional sub-center in Tibet. In 2014, the Xigaze Prefecture and county-level city were abolished, and the prefecture-level city of Xigaze was established. Da Waciren, a member of the Tibet Autonomous Region Party Standing Committee, concurrently serves as the party secretary of Xigaze City.

Famous red cities such as Yan’an and Zunyi hold special political status and symbolic significance, and their top party leaders are often “highly placed.” For instance, Hao Huijie is a member of the Shaanxi Provincial Party Standing Committee and the Party Secretary of Yan’an; and Li Rui is a member of the Guizhou Provincial Party Standing Committee and the Party Secretary of Zunyi.

During certain special periods, the party secretaries of some prefecture-level cities may be “highly placed.” In 2020, China achieved a comprehensive victory in the battle against poverty, but many follow-up tasks remained. On August 16, 2021, Wu Qiang, then a member of the Guizhou Provincial Party Standing Committee and Secretary-General, was appointed as the Party Secretary of Bijie City, marking the first time that the position was “highly placed” with a provincial party standing committee member.

Media commented at the time that Wu Qiang, who had previously worked in Bijie, was appointed as the party secretary of Bijie City concurrently with his position as a provincial party standing committee member, which was clearly a reinforcement of the leadership of the Bijie Municipal Party Committee. As a member of the provincial party standing committee, he could mobilize considerable policy resources to inject momentum into Bijie’s development.

In addition, the personnel arrangements for the top leaders of the party committees (or party working committees) of districts under direct-administered municipalities and national new areas with important missions may also follow the aforementioned situation.

For example, in Tianjin Binhai New Area, the first free trade pilot zone, national comprehensive reform pilot zone, and national independent innovation demonstration zone in the north, the district party secretary is concurrently served by Lian Maojun, a member of the Tianjin Municipal Party Standing Committee.

In the Xiong’an New Area, known as a “millennium-long plan and a national priority,” the secretary of the party working committee and the director of the management committee have been concurrently served by Zhang Guohua, a member of the Hebei Provincial Party Standing Committee, since December 2020. In January 2024, Zhang Guohua was elected as the Chairman of the Hebei Provincial Political Consultative Conference, while continuing to serve as a member of the Hebei Provincial Party Standing Committee and the secretary of the Xiong’an New Area Party Working Committee and director of the management committee.