Hu protege appointed as Hunan governor
President Hu Jintao has appointed one of his proteges as governor of Hunan province , in the second move in a week to consolidate his political power.
Zhou Qiang, first secretary of the Communist Youth League - Mr Hu's political power base - has been named governor of the central province, according to Reuters.
A spokesman in the Youth League's Beijing office did not deny the report yesterday. 'It has not been officially announced yet, so we'll decline to elaborate on it,' he said.
On Monday, Xinhua announced the sacking of Shanghai party chief Chen Liangyu over a corruption scandal. The move was also seen as a political manoeuvre to consolidate Mr Hu's power ahead of a crucial party congress next year.
Analysts said the fall of Mr Chen marked the end of the era of former president Jiang Zemin .
Mr Zhou, 46, has worked for the Communist Youth League for the past 11 years. Most recently, his name was associated with the shutting down of the China Youth Daily's hard-hitting Bingdian Weekly supplement early this year. The China Youth Daily is under the direct control of the Youth League.
His position at the Youth League will be filled by 38-year-old Yang Yue, one of his deputies.
The outgoing provincial governor, Zhou Bohua, will become head of the State Administration for Industry and Commerce, sources said.
In another personnel change, Yu Youjun , governor of the northern province of Shanxi , is expected to replace Zhang Baoshun as the provincial party chief, Reuters also reported.
But a spokesman at the provincial propaganda office denied this, saying 'it's pure speculation and both of them are still working here'.
Mr Yu, 53, jump-started his political career as Shenzhen mayor in 2000 and rose to deputy party chief of Hunan province in 2003 before taking over as Shanxi governor last year.
