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William Zheng

Liaoning, the province at the heart of China’s industrial rust belt, is undergoing a leadership reshuffle that is expected to see cadres with strong economic track records promoted to leading positions.
Zhou Bo, a former deputy mayor of Shanghai, was recently made deputy party secretary in the northeastern province.
The 57-year-old Shanghai native is widely expected to succeed Tang Yijun as Liaoning governor when the latter takes over as the provincial party boss later this year.
The current party boss Chen Qiufa, who turns 65 in December, is expected to step down.
An informed source in Liaoning said that Tang, 58, had been slated to fill the post.
Tang built his political career in the eastern economic powerhouse of Zhejiang, where Chinese president Xi Jinping was based between 2002 to 2007.
Tang had a long history of working in the party disciplinary system in Zhejiang, serving as the disciplinary boss of Ningbo city, before taking on a number of senior roles in one of the country’s most important economic hubs.

Many observers have thought Tang’s political career might have come to an end in 2011 when he was sidelined to the advisory Ningbo Political and Consultative Conference.
However, he made a surprise comeback when he was appointed mayor of Ningbo in 2016 and elevated to become the city’s party boss a year later.
Tang then continued to climb the political ladder, earning promotion to the party leadership of Zhejiang province in May 2017 and becoming an alternative member of the Central Committee – the party’s elite ruling body – five months later.
Beijing redoubles efforts to quell fears about state of the Chinese economy as bad news piles up
Tang was also made an acting governor of Liaoning province in October 2017. In January, he was confirmed as governor of the provincial people’s congress.
According to the source, Zhou is now the prime candidate to succeed Tang because of his strong credentials and economic track record in Shanghai.
Like Tang, Zhou is also an alternate member of the Central Committee.
Born in 1962, Zhou, an engineer by training, was manager of a number of state-owned enterprises in Shanghai before he was made a deputy mayor in February 2013 and put in charge of the city’s industries and its state-owned firms. The Liaoning job is his first posting outside Shanghai.

Zhou suffered a setback in December 2015 when he was reprimanded for violating the party’s disciplines on thrift amid a crackdown on lavish spending.
As a result, he was put under watch and denied promotion for 18 months.
But his fortunes started to turn in December 2016 when Integrity Watch, a mouthpiece for the party’s disciplinary body, praised him for his passionate work attitude, diligence and enthusiasm for development opportunities.
China invests US$163.2 billion in infrastructure to stave off economic slowdown and effect of trade war
In 2017, he was taken off the watch list and promoted to the role of executive deputy mayor.
The new appointees’ economic experience should stand them in good stead as they seek to turn around Liaoning’s fortunes.
Last year the province, which is dominated by heavy industry, was the country’s worst economic performer, with growth lagging well behind the national average.
Jeff Wu, assistant director of the Tianda Institute in Hong Kong, said: “Zhou Bo has vast experience from his work on the Shanghai Free Trade Zone, Zhangjiang Hi-tech Zone, Tourism Resort Management Committee and the Innovation Centre. This past experience will be very helpful to him in Liaoning as it is also a coastal province with its own ambitions to develop free-trade businesses.”

Also joining the senior ranks in Liaoning province is Chen Xiangqun, a former vice governor of Hunan province.
According to the informed source, Chen is now a member of the Communist Party Standing Committee in Liaoning and is expected to be named as deputy governor soon.
Chen, 57, is a native of Hebei province and spent 18 years working in Guangxi starting in 1992.
Considered a rising star within the Communist Party’s Organisation Department, he was made a deputy chief of the department in 2014 at the age of 51 – the youngest member of his rank in the system.
He was later transferred to Hunan province as executive deputy governor.


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Strong economic performers set to take key roles in China’s rust belt province of Liaoning

Workers at a factory in Shenyang in Liaoning. The province is dominated by heavy industry and is lagging behind the country’s hi-tech areas in terms of economic performance. Photo: Reuters

Tang Yijun, Liaoning governor.

Zhou Bo, executive vice mayor of Shanghai, speaks with reporters about the Taipei-Shanghai forum in Taipei on December 19, 2018. - Relations with China have grown increasing frosty since Taiwanese president Tsai Ing-wen came to power in 2016 making visits from senior Chinese officials to the island rarer. (Photo by HSU Tsun-hsu / AFP)

Chen Qiufa. PHOTO: HANDOUT

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Officials with long experience in economic development tipped to take on leadership roles in country’s worst economic performer.


Strong economic performers set to take key roles in China’s rust belt province of Liaoning

.css-1mniedq{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;}Officials with long experience in economic development tipped to take on leadership roles in country’s worst economic performer.

Officials with long experience in economic development tipped to take on leadership roles in country’s worst economic performer.