On the last day of 2024, there was a major personnel change in the Communist Party of China’s officialdom, with the top officials in Henan, Guangxi, Hubei, and Qinghai provinces being replaced. Former Guangxi Party Secretary Liu Ning has taken over as the Secretary of Henan Province, succeeding the outgoing Lou Yangsheng. Former Qinghai Party Secretary Chen Gang has taken over as the Secretary of Guangxi, while former Hubei Governor Wang Zhonglin has replaced the outgoing Wang Menghui as the Secretary of Hubei. Former Qinghai Governor Wu Xiaojun has taken over as the Secretary of Qinghai, replacing Chen Gang. Lou Yangsheng is considered one of the key figures representing Xi Jinping’s inner circle.
According to Xinhua News Agency on December 31, Liu Ning has been appointed as the Secretary of the Henan Provincial Committee, no longer holding the position of Party Secretary of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region; Chen Gang has been appointed as the Party Secretary of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. Lou Yangsheng is no longer the Secretary of the Henan Provincial Committee. Former Hubei Governor Wang Zhonglin has replaced the outgoing Wang Menghui as the Secretary of the Hubei Provincial Committee, and former Qinghai Governor Wu Xiaojun has replaced Chen Gang as the Secretary of the Qinghai Provincial Committee.
Liu Ning, 62, is a native of Linjiang, Jilin. He graduated from the Water Resources and Water Conservancy Engineering Department of Tsinghua University and is a member of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party. He has a long history working in the water resources system and has previously served as the Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Water Resources of the CPC. In April 2017, Liu Ning was appointed as the Deputy Secretary of the Qinghai Provincial Committee, and later served as the Secretary of the Provincial Committee for Political and Legal Affairs and the President of the Party School, before becoming the Governor in September 2018. In June 2020, Liu Ning was appointed as the Deputy Secretary of the Liaoning Provincial Committee, and in August as the Governor of Liaoning Province. In October 2021, Liu Ning was appointed as the Party Secretary of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, until his recent transfer to Henan.
Just before the 20th National Congress of the CPC, on April 17, 2022, the Party Committee of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region was the first in the country to shout the slogan “Always adore the leader, defend the leader, follow the leader.” As a result, retired writer Tian Qizhuang from Hebei accused the then Party Secretary of Guangxi, Liu Ning, of “cult of personality.” However, Tian Qizhuang was subsequently suppressed.
Chen Gang, who has now been appointed as the Party Secretary of Guangxi, was born in April 1965 and is a member of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party. He has previously served as the Party Secretary and Director of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade Beijing Sub-council, as well as various other positions. In December 2020, Chen Gang was appointed as the Secretary of the Party Committee of the All-China Federation of Trade Unions, and in February 2021 as the Secretary of the Party Committee and Vice Chairman of General Union of Trade Unions, as well as the first secretary of the Secretariat. In January 2023, Chen Gang was appointed as the Party Secretary of Qinghai Province, before his recent transfer to Guangxi.
Lou Yangsheng, who has stepped down, is 65 years old and hails from Zhejiang. Having served for over 30 years in Zhejiang, he later held positions such as the Minister of Organization of Hainan Province, the Minister of Organization of Hubei Province, and the Governor and Party Secretary of Shanxi Province. In May 2021, he was appointed as the Party Secretary of Henan Province. Lou Yangsheng was seen by the public as a member of Xi Jinping’s “Zhejiang Army,” and his diverse experience across five provinces led some to believe he had a chance of entering the Political Bureau during the 20th National Congress of the CPC.
After taking office in Henan, Lou Yangsheng faced a series of challenges. In June of the same year, two mining accidents occurred in Xinmi City, Henan, resulting in at least 7 deaths. Later, due to allegations of cover-ups, 15 officials were dismissed or suspended from their positions.
In July 2021, Henan province was hit by torrential rain and flooding. According to an investigation report by the State Council of China, 380 people in Zhengzhou died or went missing due to rainstorm disasters on July 20, 2021. The local government of Zhengzhou was found to have intentionally underreported the death toll, with the true number of deaths and missing persons higher than officially disclosed. Many netizens still question the final death toll provided by the Chinese authorities for the Henan flooding.
Following the release of the investigation report by the State Council of China, it was announced that the Party Secretary of Zhengzhou and member of Xi Jinping’s inner circle, Xu Liyi, was dismissed. However, the then Party Secretary of Henan Province, Lou Yangsheng, was not affected.
In 2022, a banking scandal occurred in Henan involving rural banks. On July 10, 2022, around 3,000 depositors from rural banks in Henan protested in front of the Zhengzhou branch of the People’s Bank of China, holding banners accusing Lou Yangsheng of having “immense connections.” The protesters were eventually dispersed forcibly by the police and plainclothes personnel.
The newly appointed Secretary of the Hubei Provincial Committee, Wang Zhonglin, was born in Feixian, Shandong in August 1962 and is a member of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party. He has held various roles in Shandong, including positions in Zaozhuang city and Jinan city. In May 2018, Wang Zhonglin became a Standing Committee Member of the Shandong Provincial Party Committee and the Party Secretary of Jinan. Wang Zhonglin was praised by the official media for his strong execution and handling of epidemic control measures during his tenure as Party Secretary of Wuhan amidst the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Wang Zhonglin, as the Party Secretary of Wuhan during the peak of the COVID-19 outbreak, was hailed by state media for his extraordinary leadership in epidemic response and crisis management. Wang Zhonglin assumed office in Wuhan after several citizen journalists like Fang Bin, Chen Qiushi, and Li Zehua, who were reporting the truth about the pandemic in Wuhan, had been arrested. Zhang Zhan was also arrested in May 2020.
On the evening of March 6, 2020, Wang Zhonglin, the Party Secretary of Wuhan at the time, requested citizens to “be grateful to the General Secretary and the Communist Party” during a meeting, which triggered strong backlash from netizens. Reports featuring this statement were later retracted by the Changjiang Daily and other mainland media outlets that had republished the news. Related content on Weibo was also deleted.
Wu Xiaojun, born in Taihe, Jiangxi in January 1966, is the youngest among the provincial Party Secretaries of the 31 provinces. He served in various roles in Jiangxi, including Deputy Mayor of Yingtan City and Vice Mayor of Ya’an City. In March 2017, Wu Xiaojun was promoted to Deputy Governor of Jiangxi Province, and then in 2019, he became a Standing Committee Member of the Jiangxi Provincial Party Committee. In March of 2020, he became the Party Secretary of Nanchang City. In April 2021, Wu Xiaojun was transferred to Qinghai, where he served as a Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Committee before being appointed as the Governor in May 2022.