CY Leung picks more mainland Chinese advisers for 'internal diplomacy'

At least a dozen leading businessmen with mainland backgrounds have been handpicked for positions on the city's advisory bodies under Leung Chun-ying's administration.

A South China Morning Post examination of the Leung administration's first-year advisory appointments also shows that a similar number come from the Y. Elite Association, a Beijingloyalist group made up of the offspring of local tycoons and business leaders.

Among the more prominent appointments is Levin Zhu Yunlai, the elder son of former premier Zhu Rongji, who now advises the Financial Services Development Council. Zhu is chief executive of investment bank China International Capital Corporation, and a source said he had taken part in the first two meetings of the council, which was founded by Leung, by teleconference rather than in person.

Ivan Choy Chi-keung, a senior lecturer in Chinese University's Department of Government and Public Administration, said the trend was quite different under Leung's predecessor, Donald Tsang Yam-kuen, who relied mainly on local mainstream businesspeople.

Choy said he believed Leung would continue appointing mainlanders when necessary, given his emphasis on "internal diplomacy".

Also appointed to the Financial Services Development Council were Chen Shuang, chief executive of China Everbright Bank, Qin Xiao, former chairman of the China Merchants Group, and Anton Liu Tingan, president and deputy chairman of China Life Insurance (Overseas).

The list also included Charley Song Lin, chairman of China Resources (Holdings), who is at the centre of a scandal involving alleged negligence in a 2010 acquisition that the state anti-graft watchdog is investigating.