On September 7, 2024, the State Council of the People’s Republic of China saw another adjustment in its ranks, with former Deputy Governor of Guangdong Province, Lin Tao, taking office while Guo Wei stepped down. With this change, all the secretaries during the tenure of Li Keqiang have now been replaced. It is now believed that the current Prime Minister Li Qiang’s secretaries are actually seen as loyal to Xi Jinping through the eyes of Cai Qi.
On September 6, the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security of the Communist Party of China released information on the appointment and removal of national officials from the State Council. Among the announcements was the appointment of Lin Tao as Deputy Secretary-General of the State Council, relieving Guo Wei of his duties.
Public records show that Lin Tao, born in July 1971 in Jieyang, Guangdong, had been working in Guangdong for a long time. In July 2023, Lin Tao was promoted to Deputy Governor of Guangdong Province. Guo Wei, born in July 1964, is an agricultural expert who previously served as Deputy Director of the State Council Research Office and became Deputy Secretary-General of the State Council in July 2021.
During the National People’s Congress in March last year, Li Qiang formed his cabinet with Wu Zhenglong appointed as Secretary-General of the State Council. Wu Zhenglong, who served as Governor when Li Qiang was Secretary of the Jiangsu Provincial Party Committee, succeeded him as the Party Secretary after Li Qiang’s departure. Upon Li Qiang becoming Prime Minister, Wu Zhenglong entered the State Council, accompanying Li Qiang on most of his trips.
The State Council of the Communist Party of China has 7 Deputy Secretaries-General. Since July last year, there have been a total of “7 in, 7 out” of Deputy Secretaries-General in the State Council, including Lin Tao.
Those who have taken up new positions as Deputy Secretaries-General include former Deputy Secretary of the Heilongjiang Provincial Party Committee, Wang Zhijun (now responsible for the daily work of the General Office since entering the State Council, at the ministerial level), former Director of the State Administration of National Affairs, Wang Yonghong, former Deputy President of the National Development Bank, Xu Shouben, former Deputy Minister of the Emergency Management Department, Sun Guangyu, former Deputy Mayor of Beijing, Liu Yuhui, former member of the Qinghai Provincial Party Committee, Secretary of the Provincial Commission for Discipline Inspection, and Director of the Provincial Supervision Commission, Wang Yang, and former Deputy Governor of Guangdong Province, Lin Tao.
The 7 officials stepping down from their positions as Deputy Secretaries-General are Ding Xuedong, Li Wenzhang, Peng Shujie, Wang Zhiqing, Meng Yang, Liu Jianbo, and Guo Wei. Among them, Ding Xuedong was appointed as Party Committee Secretary of the National Social Security Fund Council, Li Wenzhang became Deputy Minister of the Central Ministry of Social Work, Wang Zhiqing was appointed Chairman of China Eastern Airlines Group Co., Ltd., and Meng Yang became Deputy Director of the State Administration for Market Regulation.
Since former Prime Minister Li Keqiang stepped down in March last year, all the top secretaries in the State Council of the Communist Party of China have now been replaced. Li Keqiang passed away unexpectedly due to a heart attack on October 27 last year. There is speculation from outside observers that his cause of death may be related to internal struggles within the Communist Party of China.
According to the amended “State Council Working Rules” of the Communist Party of China in March 2023, the State Council follows the principle of the Prime Minister’s responsibility system. The Secretary-General serves the Prime Minister and is responsible for handling the daily work of the State Council, while the Deputy Secretaries-General assist the Secretary-General. According to Communist Party practice, each Deputy Secretary-General serves either a Vice Premier or a State Councilor.
However, with Xi Jinping’s close allies occupying high positions within the Communist Party, the power struggles among them are quite subtle. The secretaries in charge of the State Council under Li Qiang are now considered to be pawns of Cai Qi, who holds various important positions such as the First Secretary of the Central Secretariat, Secretary of the Central and State Organizational Work Committee, and Director of the General Office.
From September 13 to 14 last year, the National Party Committee and Government Secretaries Conference of the Communist Party of China was held in Beijing, unprecedentedly merging the secretaries of the party and government under the leadership of Cai Qi, who conveyed Xi Jinping’s instructions. Attendees included Li Qiang’s chief steward, State Councilor and Secretary-General Wu Zhenglong, and other State Council secretaries.
Former commentator for the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, Wang Youqun, analyzed in a piece for Epoch Times that Cai Qi has now become the head of the national party and government secretaries. Secretaries at all levels of government have direct access to Cai Qi, becoming “eyes” arranged by Xi Jinping around various administrative leaders. Cai Qi can control Prime Minister Li Qiang’s movements through Wu Zhenglong at any time.
Wang Youqun also believes that Wu Zhenglong and Li Qiang had a short overlap in Jiangsu Province, only for about a year. Wu Zhenglong has long been engaged in secretarial work, arranged by Xi Jinping from the central to local levels, and his later career in Shanxi Province and Jiangsu Province should be seen as Xi’s arrangement, unrelated to Li Qiang. Therefore, Wu Zhenglong is a “supervisor” placed by Xi Jinping by Li Qiang’s side.