Shanghai appoints Zhu Zhongming as municipal government party chief

Shanghai has named career finance official Zhu Zhongming as the municipal government’s new party chief, an appointment that puts him in line to become the city’s next mayor.

The appointment was announced on Saturday in a social media post that said he had chaired a meeting of the city government’s party leadership group.

Zhu replaces the current mayor, Gong Zheng, in the post. However, the city’s most senior position is that of the secretary of the Shanghai Communist Party committee, which is currently held by Chen Jining.

Zhu’s appointment comes a year ahead of the next Communist Party national congress, which is expected to see a major leadership reshuffle.

If Chen is promoted to a more senior role in Beijing, a move that would be in keeping with the precedent set over the past two decades, then that would create vacancies at the top of the Shanghai city government.

Zhu, 54, is a career finance official who spent much of his career in his native province of Zhejiang, where his path crossed with that of Premier Li Qiang, during the latter’s spell as governor.

He started his career in the provincial finance department in 1993 after graduating from Wuhan University.