Multiple provincial, Party official appointments made
Under Chinese law, the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress, the country’s top legislature, is authorized to appoint a minister.
Two Chinese ministries have received new Party secretaries after the officials in the top positions in the departments reached the retirement age of 65, and acting governors have also been appointed in several provinces.
Under recent decisions made by the Communist Party of China Central Committee, Tang Renjian has been appointed secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs’ Party group, replacing 66-year-old Han Changfu. Wang Wentao has been named secretary of the Ministry of Commerce’s Party group, replacing 65year-old Zhong Shan.
Information on the reshuffling was disclosed on Wednesday via the respective websites of the ministries, where Han and Zhong are still the ministers.
Under Chinese law, the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress, the country’s top legislature, is authorized to appoint a minister.
Tang, 58, a native of Chongqing, started his career in 1983 and joined the Party in 1991. He acquired broad experience working in various agricultural departments for about 30 years before becoming governor of Gansu province in May 2017.
After Tang was moved to the ministry, the Standing Committee of the Gansu People’s Congress appointed Ren Zhenhe as acting governor on Thursday.
Wang, 56, the Ministry of Commerce’s new Party secretary, came from Nantong, Jiangsu province. He began his career in 1985 and joined the Party in 1994. He served in many posts in Shanghai, as well as in the provinces of Yunnan, Jiangxi and Shandong, before becoming governor of Heilong jiang province in May 2018.
The Standing Committee of the Sichuan Provincial People’s Congress appointed Huang Qiang as Sichuan’s acting governor on Wednesday, as former governor Yin Li has been appointed Party secretary of Fujian province.
Huang, 57, from Zhejiang province, worked in China’s aerospace industry for more than 20 years. He became vice-governor of Gansu in 2014 and was appointed executive vice-governor of Henan four years later.
Also on Wednesday, Feng Fei was named acting governor of Hainan by the Hainan Provincial People’s Congress Standing Committee, as former Hainan governor Shen Xiaoming became the provincial Party secretary.
Feng, 58, a native of Jiangxi province, served in the State Council’s Development Research Center for about 20 years. In 2015, he was appointed vice-minister of industry and information technology, and a year later, he became vicegovernor of Zhejiang.
Earlier, Guizhou, Jilin, Yunnan and Hunan provinces named acting governors at each legislature’s standing committee, as their ex-governors all became provincial Party secretaries.
Li Bing jun, 57, former deputy Party secretary of Jiangxi, was appointed acting governor of Guizhou, while Han Jun, 57, vice-minister of agriculture and rural affairs, was named acting governor of Jilin.
Wang Yubo, 57, deputy Party secretary of Yunnan, became acting provincial governor, while Mao Weiming, 59, former chairman of the State Grid Corp, was appointed acting governor of Hunan.
According to the Constitution, the governor of a province should be elected and removed by the provincial people’s congress. Its standing committee has the right to name a candidate as acting governor, a decision that will later be put to a vote at the local annual congress.