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 Hainan Broadcasting 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 decided that Wang Qiyang would concurrently 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 started working in July 1991 and joined the Communist Party of China in January 1991.

Wang Qiyang worked in Hubei Province for a long time, serving 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, among other positions. In 2020, Wang Qiyang 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 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 served by a member of the provincial party standing committee.

Which Municipal Party Secretaries are Concurrently Served by Members of Provincial Party Standing Committees?

Currently, the municipal party secretaries of China’s 27 provincial capitals and capitals of autonomous regions (including the 10 sub-provincial cities of Guangzhou, Wuhan, Nanjing, Chengdu, Xi’an, Hangzhou, Jinan, Harbin, Shenyang, and Changchun) as well as 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 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 “flat” characteristics in their political and economic operations, meaning they have large economies, small jurisdictional areas, high levels of urbanization, and high-level party and government officials. They are all important growth poles in various regional economic sectors of China.

Beyond the aforementioned “27+5” cities, there are currently some prefecture-level cities nationwide where the municipal party secretary is concurrently served by a member of the provincial party standing committee. These prefecture-level cities generally have characteristics such as being economic hubs or red revolutionary base areas.

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

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 part of the 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 municipal party secretary of Xigaze.

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

During certain special periods, the municipal party secretaries of some prefecture-level cities may receive “high-level appointments.” 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 the position was held by a member of the provincial party standing committee.

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 member of the provincial party standing committee, 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-administered 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 working committee 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 working committee secretary and director of the management committee of the Xiong’an New Area.