Wuhan mayor to step down, a year after he came under fire over coronavirus response

There was no announcement about Zhou Xianwang’s departure but he is not identified as mayor in official report

He was among those criticised over the initial handling of the outbreak in the central Chinese city where virus was first detected

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Zhou Xianwang was criticised for allowing more than 40,000 people to attend a Lunar New Year gathering in Wuhan as the virus was spreading. Photo: Handout

Published: 10:25pm, 20 Jan 2021Updated: 10:29pm, 20 Jan 2021

The mayor of Wuhan in central China is stepping down, nearly a year after the city became the first place in the world to be locked down to contain the spread of the new coronavirus.

There was no official statement on the departure of Zhou Xianwang as mayor and his successor will need to be endorsed by the city’s legislature before the change can be announced.

But on Wednesday Zhou was identified as a senior member of the Hubei People’s Political Consultative Conference – not as Wuhan mayor – in a report on the provincial advisory body’s website.

It also named Huang Chuping, who was vice-governor of Hubei, as chief of the advisory body’s Communist Party committee, a role that usually goes to retiring senior officials.

Zhou and Huang are both 58 – close to the official retirement age of 60.

Huang Chuping was named as chief of the Hubei People’s Consultative Conference party committee. Photo: Handout

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