Official who led Wuhan pandemic response set to be China’s next top prosecutor, sources say

Ying Yong said to have taken up job as deputy party secretary at the Supreme People’s Procuratorate office last week

The 64-year-old was a graft-buster and senior judge in Zhejiang when Xi Jinping governed the province

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Ying Yong stepped down as party chief of Hubei province in March. Photo: Handout

Published: 4:45pm, 31 Aug 2022

Ying Yong, who led China’s response to the initial coronavirus outbreak in Wuhan, is tipped to become the country’s next top prosecutor, according to several people familiar with the situation.

Ying, 64, is already working at the Supreme People’s Procuratorate and will soon take over from Zhang Jun, the incumbent procurator-general, the people said.

The appointment would put Ying, who was a graft-buster and senior judge under Xi Jinping in the early 2000s, in one of the top positions in China’s legal apparatus.

Xi was in Zhejiang from 2002 to 2007, first as its governor and later as its party chief. During that time, Ying was the province’s deputy police chief, its deputy anti-graft chief, and ultimately its top judge.

The promotion comes just six weeks ahead of a leadership shake-up at the Communist Party congress, when Xi is expected to secure another five years as the party’s general secretary – the first to do so after Mao Zedong.

An official source based in Beijing said Ying had started working as deputy party secretary at the Supreme People’s Procuratorate office last week. The person said current top prosecutor Zhang could be appointed to head China’s supreme court.