Not surprisingly perhaps, his grandson's portfolio in Pingguo county includes "furthering reform". The 28-year-old is among other portfolios also in charge of legal matters, agriculture, poverty alleviation, the news service said.

Pingguo is the second-most populous county administered by Baise city, in Guangxi's Northwest. In 1929, Deng Xiaoping co-organised an uprising against the Nationalist government in the city.  

Quoting "local cadres and masses", the Thursday report said that the illustrous grandson has shown "erudite knowledge and outstanding ability".

"Because of his low-key, modest, and studious character, he has never accepted an interview request," it said.

The then law student at Peking University said he had inherited his grandfather's passion for playing bridge, but had never played with him.

By Friday, netizens had shared the news of his appointment thousands of times, more often than not mocking nepotism within state and party.

For descendants of state leaders aspiring to higher office, a stint as a low-level official in the countryside has become an obligatory right of passage.

In 1982, President Xi Jinping, who the son of a vice-premier, became a Deputy Party Secretary of Zhengding county in Hebei, even though he has previously worked as a secretary in the all-powerful Central Military Commission.

Similarly two years later, now disgraced former Chongqing Party Secretary Bo Xilai, who is the son of one of the founding fathers of Communist China, was sent from Politburo Secretariat to serve in Liaoning province.