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 members of the provincial party standing committees.

According to a report by Hainan Radio and Television Group 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 in the UK. He joined the workforce in July 1991 and became a member of the Communist Party of China in January of the same year.

Wang Qiyang has long worked in Hubei Province, serving in various positions including 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 Party Secretary of Xiangyang City.

Earlier, Zhou Hongbo, the former member of the Hainan Provincial Party Standing Committee and Party Secretary of Sanya City, had been appointed as a member of the Jiangsu Provincial Party Standing Committee and 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 member of the provincial party standing committee.

Which City Party Secretaries are Concurrently Served by Provincial Party Standing Committee Members?

Currently, the party secretaries of the 27 provincial capitals (including 10 sub-provincial cities: Guangzhou, Wuhan, Nanjing, Chengdu, Xi’an, Hangzhou, Jinan, Harbin, Shenyang, and Changchun) and the five special administrative regions (Shenzhen, Xiamen, Ningbo, Qingdao, and Dalian) are all concurrently served by members of the provincial party standing committees, 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 sub-provincial cities in China’s urban system have a “flattened” political and economic structure, characterized by large economies, small jurisdictions, high levels of urbanization, and high-level party and government officials. These cities are important growth poles in various regional economic blocks 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 member of the provincial party standing committee. These cities typically have significant economic importance or are located in historic revolutionary areas.

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 his new position, is also a major tourist and economic city in Hainan Province.

Similarly, Dawa Tsering, a member of the Tibet Autonomous Region Party Standing Committee, concurrently serves as the Party Secretary of Xigaze City, which is located in the southwestern part of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and is a regional sub-center in Tibet. In 2014, Xigaze Prefecture and the county-level city were abolished, and a prefecture-level Xigaze City was established.

Famous red cities such as Yan’an and Zunyi have special political status and symbolic significance, and their top party leaders are usually “highly placed”. Examples include Hao Huijie, a member of the Shaanxi Provincial Party Standing Committee and Party Secretary of Yan’an City, and Li Rui, a member of the Guizhou Provincial Party Standing Committee and Party Secretary of Zunyi City.

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 City, was appointed as the Party Secretary of Bijie City concurrently with his position as a member of the provincial party standing committee, 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-controlled municipalities and national new areas undertaking 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 plan and national priority,” the position of party secretary and director of the management committee has 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 party secretary and director of the management committee of the Xiong’an New Area.