Former Fujian party secretary Chen Mingyi was yesterday named chairman of the Fujian People's Political Consultative Conference, in a move which further puts him in the political wilderness following the mainland's biggest smuggling scandal.
Mr Chen stepped down in December apparently to take leadership responsibility for the multi-billion-yuan Yuan Hua smuggling scandal. Although Mr Chen was not known to be involved, several key suspects were promoted during his tenure as party secretary of the province.
His appointment to the consultative conference is a backward step as it is an advisory body with no real political power.
Mr Chen has been succeeded by Song Defu, former minister of personnel and a close ally of Vice-President Hu Jintao.
Joining Mr Chen in the latest reshuffle was He Shaochuan, former Fujian deputy secretary, and Fuzhou mayor Weng Fulin. Mr He becomes a vice-chairman of the conference and Mr Weng a standing committee member.
The changes were announced yesterday when the consultative conference held its annual session. Analysts say the changes are a clear indication that Beijing is moving to clean up the province's tarnished reputation by sidelining even those officials not directly implicated in the scandal.