Chinese city boss removed from provincial role after summer’s devastating floods

Name: China’s car ‘cemetery’ for thousands of vehicles damaged in Henan floods
Uploaded: 2021-10-30T12:08:24.000Z
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Description: China’s car ‘cemetery’ for thousands of vehicles damaged in Henan floods

Xu Liyi, Zhengzhou’s party chief, has been removed from the top decision-making body in Henan province

The change has not been officially linked to the floods, which killed at least 292 people in the city and prompted an investigation into the disaster response

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Heavy rain caused devastating flooding in Henan province, including the provincial capital Zhengzhou. Photo: AFP

Echo Xie

Published: 8:08pm, 30 Oct 2021Updated: 8:58am, 1 Nov 2021

The party chief of Zhengzhou, the central Chinese city that suffered devastating flooding this summer, has been removed from his position on the top provincial decision-making body.

The floods killed at least 292 people in the city and, although the authorities have not directly linked Xu Liyi’s removal from the 13-member Henan provincial standing committee to the disaster, it was widely expected that some local officials would be held responsible for the high death toll.

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China’s car ‘cemetery’ for thousands of vehicles damaged in Henan floods

Xu remains in post as Zhengzhou party chief and a member of the 93-member provincial party committee.

Lou Yangsheng, the provincial party chief, told the party congress on Friday that some cadres had not been selected in the new round of provincial party appointments because of “age and work needs”, according to the official Henan Daily newspaper.

“During their tenure, they devoted a lot of effort and made important contributions to the development of Henan and building the party. I would like to express my heartfelt thanks to them,” Lou said.

Catastrophic flooding hit Henan province in July, killing at least 302 people, including 292 in Zhengzhou, the provincial capital.