Confusion in rare multiple reshuffles at Communist Party's provincial committees

The authorities unveiled changes at the top of several provincial administrations in a rare simultaneous reshuffle yesterday.

But there was confusion over the appointment of outgoing Tianjin party secretary Sun Chunlan, who will be replaced by the municipality's mayor Huang Xingguo.

Mainland media initially reported that Sun would head the United Front Work Department, a position most recently occupied by Ling Jihua, who is under investigation for corruption. But Xinhua later said only that Sun would step down from her position, "pending further appointment". All online reports of Sun taking the department's helm were pulled down.

A department spokesman said they did not have any news of Sun's appointment. The department handles the Communist Party's external relationships with non-party entities and previous chiefs have played big roles in forging ties with business and community leaders in Hong Kong.

The appointment of Huang, who was Zhejiang's deputy governor while President Xi Jinping was its deputy party secretary, was seen as a break with tradition in which the party bosses of the four municipalities directly under the central government are Politburo members. Huang is a member of the party's Central Committee.

Political analyst Zhang Lifan said Huang would retain influence due to his ties with Xi.