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

Recently, there have been coordinated adjustments to the positions of municipal party secretaries concurrently held by provincial party standing committee members in cities such as Nanjing, Jiangsu, and Sanya, Hainan.

According to a report from Hainan Radio and Television Group on December 3, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) recently approved the appointment of Wang Qiyang as a member and standing committee member of the Hainan Provincial Party Committee. The Hainan Provincial Party Committee subsequently decided to appoint Wang Qiyang 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, hails from Gao’an, Jiangxi. He 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 CPC member in January 1991.

Wang Qiyang worked in Hubei Province for a long time, 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 was appointed as the Party Secretary of Jingmen City.

In 2022, Wang Qiyang became 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 Party Secretary of Nanjing City.

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

Which Municipal Party Secretaries are Concurrently Provincial Party Standing Committee Members?

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

The municipal 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 “flat” political and economic structure, characterized by large economies, small jurisdictions, high levels of urbanization, and high-level political appointments. They 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 municipal party secretary is concurrently a provincial party standing committee member. These cities typically have significant economic importance or are historical revolutionary bases.

For example, in Suzhou, the strongest prefecture-level city in China, the municipal party secretary Liu Xiaotao is also a member of the Jiangsu Provincial Party Standing Committee; in Luoyang, the second-largest city in Henan, the municipal 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 municipal 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 tourism and economic city in Hainan Province.

Another example is Xigaze in Tibet, where the municipal party secretary Dawa Tsering is concurrently a member of the Tibet Autonomous Region Party Standing Committee. Xigaze, located in the southwestern Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, is 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.

Famous red cities such as Yan’an and Zunyi have special political status and symbolic significance, and their top party officials are usually “high-level appointments.” For example, Hao Huijie is a member of the Shaanxi Provincial Party Standing Committee and Party Secretary of Yan’an; Li Rui is a member of the Guizhou Provincial Party Standing Committee and Party Secretary of Zunyi.

During certain special periods, some prefecture-level cities may have “high-level appointments” for their municipal party secretaries. In 2020, China achieved a comprehensive victory in the battle against poverty, but many follow-up efforts were still needed. 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 a provincial party standing committee member concurrently served as the Bijie municipal party secretary.

Media commentary at that time noted that Wu Qiang, who had previously worked in Bijie City, was appointed as the municipal party secretary concurrently with his position as a provincial party standing committee member, which was clearly a further strengthening 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 with important missions can 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 held 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 held 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.