New Party chiefs appointed in four provinces as heads retire

Four provinces received new Party chiefs after the officials who held the top positions in these regions reached the retirement age of 65.

Jing Junhai, former governor of Jilin province, will replace ethnic Mongolian Bayanqolu to head the CPC Jilin provincial committee, according to an announcement from the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on Friday. Jing, 60, has worked as governor since January 2018.

A physics major, the native of Shaanxi province worked as teacher in Xidian University in the province's capital Xi'an for almost 10 years before becoming an official in 1992. After holding various posts in the province, including vice-governor, he was shifted out of his home region in June 2015 when he was appointed deputy head of the Publicity Department of the CPC Central Committee.

Hunan, Yunnan and Guizhou provinces have also seen their governors promoted to Party chiefs.

Prior to Xu Dazhe's new post as Hunan's top official, the 64-year-old worked as governor since late 2016. The Hunan native has most of his work experience in the aerospace sector after graduating from Harbin Institute of Technology in the Heilongjiang provincial capital of Harbin in 1982.

Xu was shifted to vice-minister of industry and information technology from his post as president of China Aerospace Science and Technology Co in late 2013. He started work in Hunan as deputy Party chief only about two years and eight months later.

Ruan Chengfa will be Yunnan's new Party chief. A native of Hubei province, the 63-year-old studied and worked in Hubei until he was shifted to Yunnan as vice-governor in 2016.

Prior to his new post in Yunnan, he was a member of the standing committee of the CPC Hubei provincial committee and mayor of Wuhan, the province's capital. He was promoted to Yunnan governor in January 2017.

Guizhou will get a female Party chief from the Bai ethnic group. Before assuming the new post, Shen Yiqin worked as governor since January 2018. The 60-year-old Guizhou native worked in the province after graduating from Guizhou University in the capital Guiyang as a history major in 1982. She was a teacher in the university before starting her career as an official in 1993.