On the eve of the Fifth Plenary Session of the Communist Party of China (CPC), there has been a series of personnel changes in the leadership of Shanghai over the past three months since early June 2026. Deputy Mayor Chen Yujian was removed from office, Executive Deputy Mayor Wu Wei and Deputy Mayor Jie Dong were transferred out of Shanghai. Gong Zheng resigned, and Zhu Zhongming became the acting Mayor of Shanghai. Hua Yuan, the Secretary-General of the Shanghai Municipal Party Committee, and Wang Huajie, the Party Secretary of Songjiang District, were appointed as Deputy Mayors of Shanghai. During the same period, there were intensive adjustments of party and government officials at the municipal and district levels in Shanghai.
According to the official WeChat account of the Shanghai People’s Congress, the 34th meeting of the Standing Committee of the 16th Shanghai Municipal People’s Congress on September 18, 2026, deliberated and approved personnel appointments, appointing Hua Yuan as the Deputy Mayor of Shanghai.
Public records show that Hua Yuan, born in May 1974 in Shanghai, graduated from East China Normal University. He has held various positions such as Deputy Director of the Shanghai Civil Affairs Bureau, District Mayor of Fengxian District in Shanghai, Party Secretary and Director of the Shanghai Municipal Bureau of Commerce, Deputy Secretary-General of the Shanghai Municipal Government, and Party Secretary and Director of the Development and Reform Commission of Shanghai.
In January 2023, Hua Yuan was appointed as the Deputy Mayor of Shanghai, and in February 2024, he became a member of the Shanghai Municipal Committee and Deputy Mayor. In April 2025, Hua Yuan was promoted to a member of the Shanghai Municipal Committee and Secretary-General of the Municipal Committee before this recent reshuffle.
On September 4, 2026, the Standing Committee of the 16th Shanghai Municipal People’s Congress accepted Gong Zheng’s resignation as Mayor of Shanghai, appointing Zhu Zhongming as Deputy Mayor and acting Mayor of Shanghai.
Zhu Zhongming, born in April 1972 in Haining, Zhejiang, previously served as Party Secretary and Director of the Finance Department of Zhejiang Province, Deputy Governor of Hunan Province, and Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Finance. In July 2024, he was appointed as the Deputy Secretary of the Shanghai Municipal Committee and later also served as the Secretary of the Political and Legal Affairs Committee. Zhu Zhongming is not a member of the Central Committee of the CPC or a candidate member, his exceptional promotion this time is seen as an early indication of being included in the upcoming 21st Central Committee membership list.
During his time working in Zhejiang, Zhu Zhongming had connections with Li Qiang, the current member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, State Councilor, and former Party Secretary of Shanghai. When Li Qiang was the Deputy Secretary of the Zhejiang Provincial Party Committee, Zhu Zhongming was transferred from his position as Deputy Director of the Zhejiang Provincial Finance Department to become Deputy Mayor of Wenzhou, Li Qiang’s hometown, in January 2012. He was later promoted to become a member of the Standing Committee of Wenzhou, and then Secretary of the Party Committee of the Oubei Port New Area Development and Construction Commission in August of the same year. During Li Qiang’s tenure as Governor of Zhejiang Province, Zhu Zhongming served as Deputy Secretary of the Party Group and Deputy Director of the Audit Department of Zhejiang Province in July 2015, and then promoted to Secretary of the Party Group and Director of the Audit Department of Zhejiang Province in April 2017.
Gong Zheng, who resigned as Mayor of Shanghai, was already 65 years old, the retirement age for officials at his rank. The official announcement did not mention any further appointments for him.
Gong Zheng, born in March 1960 in Suzhou, Jiangsu, is 66 years old and a member of the 20th Central Committee of the CPC. He has held various positions such as Deputy Governor of Zhejiang Province, Party Secretary of Hangzhou, Deputy Secretary and Governor of Shandong Province. Gong Zheng was appointed Deputy Secretary of the Shanghai Municipal Committee on March 19, 2020, and became Mayor of Shanghai on July 21 of the same year. According to CPC conventions, officials at his level retire at the age of 65, so Gong Zheng had already worked for a year and a half beyond the normal retirement age. There are speculations that Gong Zheng is the brother-in-law of former Vice Premier Liu He.
On September 4, 2026, self-media figure Sato Ho posted on platform X that Gong Zheng had officially been removed as Shanghai Mayor and Zhu Zhongming was appointed as the acting Mayor of Shanghai. It is suggested that if Gong Zheng fails to be promoted to a national-level position after the Fifth Plenary Session, he may follow a similar path to Xu Kuangdi, who later served as Vice Chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference. For Zhu Zhongming, becoming Mayor of Shanghai may not be beneficial as historically, none of the three Shanghai Mayors during Xi Jinping’s era managed to advance to the CPC’s Politburo, with Ying Yong, the former Mayor, becoming the Secretary of the Hubei Provincial Party Committee, and later Gong Zheng, the Governor of Shandong, taking over as Mayor of Shanghai. Both ultimately fell short of reaching the core leadership of the CPC.
On the same day Zhu Zhongming was appointed as Deputy Mayor and acting Mayor of Shanghai, on September 4, 2026, the Standing Committee of the Shanghai Municipal People’s Congress also appointed Wang Huajie as Deputy Mayor of Shanghai, relieving Jie Dong of his responsibilities as Deputy Mayor.
In August 2026, Jie Dong was already a candidate for the Vice Chairman of the China Overseas Exchange Association. Later, at the 6th Plenary Session of the 11th National Committee of the China Overseas Exchange Association on September 2, he was elected as the Vice Chairman of the association.
Wang Huajie previously served as the Party Secretary of Songjiang District in Shanghai and held positions such as Deputy Director of the Development and Reform Commission of Shanghai and the Party Secretary and Director of the Shanghai Municipal Finance Bureau.
About a month ago, on July 29, 2026, the Standing Committee of the Shanghai Municipal People’s Congress removed Wu Wei from his position as Deputy Mayor of Shanghai. On July 27, an official announcement was made that Wu Wei was no longer a member of the Standing Committee of the Shanghai Municipal Committee. Wu Wei was transferred to become the Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee of China Investment Limited Liability Company on July 23, 2026.
Approximately three months ago, on June 10, 2026, Deputy Mayor of Shanghai Chen Yujian was reported to be under investigation. Born in February 1970 in Shandong, Chen Yujian had held various positions such as Deputy District Mayor of Yangpu District, Deputy District Mayor, District Mayor of Songjiang, and District Mayor of Minhang. He became the Deputy Mayor of Shanghai in December 2023.
On September 18, 2026, along with the appointment of Hua Yuan as Deputy Mayor of Shanghai, various other personnel changes were also approved by the Standing Committee of the Shanghai Municipal People’s Congress. These changes included the replacement of Directors of the Shanghai Water Bureau and the Cultural and Tourism Bureau, as well as the Chairperson of the Second Intermediate People’s Court of Shanghai. Cao Fusheng was relieved of his duties as Deputy Secretary-General and Director of the Office of the Shanghai Municipal People’s Congress, and Wang Guangxian was removed as Deputy Director of the Shanghai High People’s Court.
On September 18, 2026, the WeChat account “Shanghai Public Release” announced the appointment of five senior officials in Shanghai, including the proposed appointment of Hua Wei, the current Deputy Director of the Party Office of the Shanghai Municipal Committee, to a new senior position in municipal institutions.
On the same day, the WeChat account “Shanghai One-Stop Service Portal” released information regarding recent personnel changes in the Shanghai Municipal Government, appointing Ma Chunlei as the Director of the Consultation Office of the Shanghai Municipal Government and removing Yang Zheng from his position as Director of the Office of the Shanghai Municipal Government for Cooperation and Exchange.
On September 7, 2026, the WeChat account “Shanghai Public Release” published a list of 38 senior officials in Shanghai before taking up their new positions, involving various roles in the Municipal Committee, Municipal Government, and District Party Committees.
Earlier in the first half of 2026, a series of appointments and dismissals of bureau-level officials in Shanghai were announced.
In March 2026, Liu Jian was appointed as Deputy Secretary-General of the Shanghai Municipal Government, relieving Gu Jun of his position as Deputy Secretary-General of the Shanghai Municipal Government, and removing Dong Jianhua from his role as Director of the Research Office of the Shanghai Municipal Government.
In May 2026, Jin Penghui and Ma Xiaohong were appointed as Deputy Secretary-Generals of the Shanghai Municipal Government, Bi Guiping was appointed as the Director of the Xinjiang Office of the Shanghai Municipal Government, and Meng Qingyuan was relieved of his duties as Director of the Xinjiang Office of the Shanghai Municipal Government.
In the past two months, there have been intensive adjustments in the leadership teams of various districts in Shanghai, involving changes in positions such as District Party Secretary, District Mayor, Deputy Secretary, Standing Committee Member, Party Secretary of the District People’s Congress, and Committee members of the District Committee of the Political Consultative Conference.
For instance, on September 16, 2026, Li Hongzhen, former standing committee member of Putuo District and Director of the Organization Department, was revealed as the Party Secretary of the Standing Committee of the People’s Congress of Putuo District. On September 15, 2026, Wang Hongqing, former standing committee member of Fengxian District and Secretary of the District Discipline Inspection Commission, was seen as the Party Secretary of the Standing Committee of the People’s Congress of Jiading District.
On August 24, 2026, Dong Yiweng, Secretary of the Science and Technology Commission of the Shanghai Municipal Committee, succeeded Lu Fangzhou as the Party Secretary of the Standing Committee in Minhang District. On August 20, 2026, Li Feng, former standing committee member and deputy district mayor of Qingpu District, was promoted to District Mayor. On July 30, 2026, Yang Yuanfei, former Deputy Secretary of the Changning District Committee, became the District Mayor of Jinshan District. On July 28, 2026, Kong Fu’an, Secretary of the Party Group and Executive Deputy Director of the Management Committee of the Shanghai Hongqiao International Central Business District, was transferred to become the Party Secretary of the Changning District Committee.