Personnel adjustments on the eve of the 21st National Congress of the Communist Party of China: Hu Chang was promoted to Secretary of Tibet, Wu Xiaojun took over as Secretary of Gansu, and Luo Dongchuan was promoted to Secretary of Qinghai

On the eve of the 21st National Congress of the Communist Party of China (21st National Congress) scheduled to be held next year, the Beijing authorities are intensively reshuffling local high-level personnel. On the 22nd, they announced the adjustment of party committee secretaries in Tibet, Gansu, and Qinghai. Hu Changsheng was transferred from Gansu to the Tibet Autonomous Region Party Committee Secretary, Wu Xiaojun was transferred from Qinghai to Gansu Provincial Party Committee Secretary, and Qinghai Governor Luo Dongchuan took over as Qinghai Provincial Party Committee Secretary.

Among them, Hu Changsheng and Luo Dongchuan both served in Fujian Province, where General Secretary Xi Jinping made his fortune, and are regarded by the outside world as members of the "Minjiang New Army" of Xi Jinping's faction.

Please read on...

Hong Kong's "South China Morning Post" reported that the 62-year-old Hu Changsheng's former position as secretary of the Gansu Provincial Party Committee will be replaced by the 60-year-old Qinghai Provincial Party Committee Secretary Wu Xiaojun. At the same time, Luo Dongchuan, the 60-year-old governor of Qinghai Province, will succeed Wu Xiaojun and be promoted to secretary of the Qinghai Provincial Party Committee.

The 21st National Congress of the Communist Party of China is expected to be held next year, when the leadership lineup for the next five years will be decided. The provincial personnel changes on the eve of the meeting can provide important clues for the outside world to observe the CCP’s personnel layout and political front.

According to reports, Hu Changsheng spent his early political career mainly in Sichuan Province until he was transferred to Qinghai in 2015. In 2017, he was transferred to Fujian Province and served as the Minister of the Organization Department of the Provincial Party Committee; in 2019, he was appointed as the Secretary of the Xiamen Municipal Party Committee. In 2020, he was promoted to the Deputy Secretary of the Fujian Provincial Party Committee while continuing to serve as the "top leader" of Xiamen. It is worth noting that Xi Jinping has worked in Fujian Province for more than 10 years, serving as Secretary of the Municipal Party Committee of Fuzhou, the provincial capital, from 1990 to 1996, and as Deputy Secretary of the Fujian Provincial Party Committee from 1995 to 2002.

Hu Changsheng subsequently became governor of Heilongjiang Province in 2021 and took over as secretary of the Gansu Provincial Party Committee in 2022.

The new Qinghai Provincial Party Committee Secretary Luo Dongchuan holds a doctorate in law and has extensive experience in the judicial system. He has served in the Beijing District Court and the Supreme People's Court of China. In 2015, he was transferred to the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection of the Communist Party of China (CCDI) as the director of the case trial room. After serving as Secretary of the Discipline Inspection Commission of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region from 2017 to 2018, Luo Dongchuan returned to the Supreme People’s Court as Vice President, and later served as President of the Intellectual Property Court.

Luo Dongchuan also has experience in serving in Fujian Province. He served as Secretary of the Political and Legal Affairs Committee of the Fujian Provincial Party Committee from 2020 to 2021, and as Deputy Secretary of the Fujian Provincial Party Committee from 2021 to 2024. In 2024, Luo Dongchuan was transferred to Qinghai as deputy secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, and took over as governor of Qinghai Province last year.

After Xi Jinping came to power, a large number of officials with Fujian experience or Fujian origins were promoted. The "Fujian Gang" in the party and government system firmly controlled core positions, including Cai Qi, member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau and Director of the General Office of the CPC Central Committee, He Lifeng, Vice Premier of the State Council, Huang Kunming, Secretary of the Guangdong Provincial Party Committee, Wang Xiaohong, Minister of Public Security, and others. However, in the military system, the core figures of the Fujian Gang, He Weidong, Miao Hua and others, were purged during the purge operation.

As for Wu Xiaojun, who was transferred to Gansu Provincial Party Committee Secretary, he spent most of his public career in Jiangxi Province until he was transferred to Qinghai in 2021. He was appointed governor of Qinghai Province in 2022 and took over as secretary of the Qinghai Provincial Party Committee in 2024.