Shenzhen party boss takes centre stage at Guangdong advisory conference

Shenzhen Communist Party boss Wang Rong took centre seating at yesterday's provincial political advisory conference, an unusual arrangement suggesting he will most probably replace disgraced chairman Zhu Mingguo at the helm of the advisory body.

During the morning session on the second day of the Guangdong Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, Wang, 56, sat in the middle of a row of 13 provincial CPPCC officials while listening to other delegates discuss policy proposals.

Liang Weifa, Guangdong CPPCC vice-chairman, and deputy governor Chen Yunxian sat beside Wang, the only member of the Standing Committee of the Guangdong Communist Party Committee to turn up yesterday morning. Liang departed halfway through, leaving Wang in the spotlight.

He has been appointed a member of the provincial advisory body, the China News Services reported, a key step that paves the way for him to head the organisation.

Speculation about Wang taking the helm began to emerge last month when the opening date of the advisory body's annual plenum was postponed for more than two weeks because of "operational issues".

"I learned of the new chairman 10 days ago from internal [CPPCC] gossip," said Yuan Chengyou , a Shenzhen-based provincial CPPCC delegate representing migrant workers.

"Such leadership reshuffles are normal. I'm happy to see him as the new chairman. Others might have talked badly about him, but to me as an individual, he is sincere and personable - he visited me in the past when I got injured at work."