New role for Tibet’s chairman in countdown to China’s Communist Party congress
- Qizhala is expected to take up a new post in Beijing and be replaced by Lhasa party chief Yan Jinhai
- Yan’s rise comes as president underlines need for ‘a sense of Chinese community’ in ethnic minority areas
During the congress, President Xi Jinping is expected to start his third five-year term as party general secretary, the first Chinese leader to do so in decades.
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Chinese President Xi Jinping makes first trip to Tibet in a decade
Qizhala, 63, has been head of the regional government since 2017, and is expected to take on a new role in the top legislature, the National People Congress, a common destination for regional chiefs in the final years of their career.
Qizhala is an ethnic Tibetan from the neighbouring southwestern province of Yunnan and his expected replacement, Yan, 59, is an ethnic Tibetan official from Qinghai province in the northwest.
Yan was appointed deputy party chief of Tibet in July last year and party secretary of Lhasa in January.
His career path is very similar to Qizhala’s promotion track.
