Youth work expert Wang Zhimin tipped for No 2 Hong Kong post in Beijing

A deputy director of the central government's liaison office, who is in charge of youth work in Hong Kong, will be appointed deputy chief of the State Council's Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office (HKMAO).

The appointment of the deputy director, Wang Zhimin, is expected to be announced in the next few weeks. This comes amid mounting speculation about the imminent retirement of HKMAO director Wang Guangya , who this month turned 65, the mandatory retirement age for ministers.

A mainland official familiar with Hong Kong affairs confirmed that Wang Zhimin would replace Xu Ze, who turns 61 in October, as HKMAO deputy director. Deputy directors are normally required to retire at 60.

Wang Zhimin, 58, served as head of the liaison office's youth work department from 2006 to 2009. He continued to oversee youth work after his promotion to deputy director in 2009.

Since the end of the 79-day Occupy protest, myriad mainland officials and scholars have called for youth work to be strengthened in Hong Kong.

Xu joined the HKMAO after graduating from Guangzhou's Sun Yat-sen University in 1982.

While the central government has been enforcing the retirement age for senior officials more stringently in recent years, several mainland sources and Beijing-friendly politicians in Hong Kong said Wang Guangya was likely to retain his post until the Legislative Council vote in the summer on the blueprint for the 2017 chief executive election.