Beijing’s head of discipline to take over as boss of capital of southern China’s economic powerhouse

The Communist Party’s disciplinary chief for Beijing has been named as the new party boss of Guangzhou, the capital of south China’s economic powerhouse province Guangdong, as part of a nationwide reshuffle at the provincial level.

The appointment of Zhang Shuofu, 53, was announced to senior cadres in Guangzhou on Friday, official Beijing Daily reported on social media.

Zhang will take over from Ren Xuefeng, who will retain his post as deputy party boss of Guangdong and his law enforcement portfolio, two sources close to the provincial government told the South China Morning Post, on condition of anonymity.

Zhang will also serve as a member of the party’s provincial standing committee for Guangdong.

One of the sources said there was now “a good chance” that Ren would be given a promotion to a northern province, as the central government had been encouraging such moves.

Ren, who is also an alternate member of the party’s elite Central Committee, spent about two decades working in the north China municipality of Tianjin, rising to vice-mayor before moving to Guangzhou in 2014 to replace Wan Qinngliang who was under investigation for corruption.