Personnel News | Who has served as the Secretary of the Party Committee of the largest city in China by land area

Recently, the adjustment of the secretary of the Sansha Municipal Committee, known as China’s largest city by area, has been announced.

According to a message from the “Nanhai Pioneers” WeChat public account on December 31st, 2024, the CPC Hainan Provincial Committee has decided that Ge Guoke will be appointed as a member of the CPC Sansha Municipal Committee, member of the Municipal Standing Committee, and secretary of the Municipal Party Committee.

Ge Guoke is a male, born in August 1977 in Pubei County, Guangxi Province. He joined the Communist Party of China in April 1998 and began working in July 2006. He holds a Ph.D. in agriculture from the College of Agriculture and Biotechnology at Zhejiang University. He previously served as the deputy mayor of Baise City, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, and secretary of the municipal party committee. He also served as the deputy director of the administration committee of Baise Key Development and Opening-up Pilot Zone.

Previously, Yuan Guangping served as the secretary of Sansha Municipal Committee. Yuan is a male, born in April 1966 in Chongqing City and joined the Communist Party of China in October 1986. He holds a Ph.D. in Economics and previously served as various positions including director of the Election and Appointment Liaison Office of the Standing Committee of Haikou City People’s Congress in Hainan Province, director and secretary of Haikou Audit Bureau, deputy mayor of Haikou City People’s Government, vice director of the Department of Economic Construction under Ministry of Finance (internship), and member of the Standing Committee of Haikou Municipal Party Committee.

In December 2017, Yuan Guangping became secretary of Danzhou Municipal Committee in Hainan Province. In 2021, he was appointed as secretary of Sansha Municipal Committee. In January 2023, he was elected to be a member of the Provincial Political Consultative Conference while continuing to serve as secretary of Sansha Municipal Committee until this adjustment.

Public information reveals that Sansha City was officially established on July 24th, 2012 and is under the jurisdiction of Hainan Province. It governs the islands and reefs in the South China Sea as well as their surrounding waters, making it China’s southernmost city with the largest land area but smallest land population among all cities at this level.

Sansha City holds a strategically important position, located at the throat of the Pacific Ocean and Indian Ocean and known as the “third golden waterway” in the world. It is an essential place for China’s “Silk Road on the Ocean” trade routes throughout history. Xiao Jie was the first secretary and mayor after Sansha City was established, holding this position for nearly five years.

Over the past four years, under Xiao Jie’s leadership, Sansha has made progress in many fields such as marine rights protection, economy, and people’s livelihood. The mechanism for joint defense by military police and civilians has shown evident effects in safeguarding Sansha’s rights at sea and normalizing law enforcement across its jurisdiction in both the West China Sea and Zhongsha region. Upon his departure from Sansha, Tian Xianli took over as secretary of Sansha Municipal Committee after serving as deputy secretary general and legal adviser to the Provincial Political and Legal Commission in Hainan Province. Tian Xianli previously served as a judge at higher courts in China and has extensive experience in legal affairs. Zhang Jun later took over as secretary after being appointed by the CPC Hainan Provincial Committee. Zhang Jun initially played a crucial role in establishing Sansha City as a member of its initial leadership team upon its establishment in 2012 before returning to work at Hainan Provincial Marine and Fishery Administration where he rose to become director general and secretary for several departments before being appointed to head Sansha Municipal Party Committee again in 2018. Notably, despite its youthfulness, Sansha has witnessed multiple party committee secretaries achieve career advancements; many have been promoted to senior positions beyond Sansha such as political committee members or even heads of provinces after their tenure at Sansha Municipal Committee which indicates that Sansha is an important platform for career advancement for senior officials in China’s political landscape.