New Guangdong, Guangxi Party Secretaries

UNCLAS GUANGZHOU 001260 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS STATE FOR EAP/CM STATE PASS USTR E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PINR CH SUBJECT: New Guangdong, Guangxi Party Secretaries (U) THIS DOCUMENT IS SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED. IT SHOULD NOT BE DISSEMINATED OUTSIDE U.S. GOVERNMENT CHANNELS OR IN ANY PUBLIC FORUM WITHOUT THE WRITTEN CONCURRENCE OF THE ORIGINATOR. IT SHOULD NOT BE POSTED ON THE INTERNET. ¶1. (U) Summary: Key announcements affecting south China leadership were made over the weekend: former Chongqing Party Secretary Wang Yang has been appointed Guangdong Party Secretary while Guangxi Deputy Party Secretary Guo Shengkun will move up to become Party Secretary, replacing Liu Qibao, who has been named Sichuan Party SIPDIS Secretary. End summary. SIPDIS New Appointments in South China -------------- ¶2. (U) Over the weekend, former Chongqing Party Secretary Wang Yang was named Guangdong Party Secretary, replacing Zhang Dejiang. Media reports indicate Zhang will be promoted to a still unconfirmed position in the central government. The reports speculate that he could replace Wu Yi as Vice Premier. ¶3. (U) Guo Shengkun was appointed Party Secretary of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, replacing Liu Qibao, who has been named Party Secretary of Sichuan Province. In apparently unrelated news, SIPDIS Guangxi Vice Chairman (the autonomous region's equivalent to a provincial vice governor) Sun Yu was dismissed on November 30 for allegedly receiving bribes worth RMB 400 million (about US$54 million) related to construction of a flood control and water conservation project. Wang Yang Biographic Information -------------- ¶4. (SBU) New Guangdong Party Secretary Wang Yang was born in 1955 in Anhui Province. He graduated from the University of Science and Technology of China with a master's degree in engineering. He was elevated to the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and Politburo at the 17th Party Congress in October. Wang served as Chongqing Municipal Party Secretary from 2005 to 2007 and Deputy Secretary General of the State Council from 2003 to 2005. His SIPDIS previous appointments include Vice Minister of the State Development and Reform Commission (1999-2003),Anhui Deputy Party Secretary (1998-1999),Anhui Vice Governor (1993-1999),and Mayor of Tongling City in Anhui (1992-1993). Congen Chengdu may weigh in later with a review of Wang's tenure in Chongqing. Guo Shengkun Biographic Information -------------- ¶5. (SBU) New Guangxi Party Secretary Guo Shengkun was born in October 1954 in Xingguo, Jiangxi Province. He is a graduate of the Jiangxi Metallurgical Institute and earned a master's degree in engineering from the Zhongnan Industrial University. He served as Guangxi Deputy Party Secretary from 2004 to 2007. His previous experience was entirely in the mining industry, ending with his tenure as Chairman, CEO and Party Secretary of the Aluminum Corporation of China from 2001 to 2004. Liu Qibao Biographic Information -------------- ¶6. (SBU) Former Guangxi Party Secretary Liu Qibao was born in January 1953 in Anhui Province. He studied history at Anhui Normal University and earned a master's degree in economics from Jilin University. Liu served as Guangxi Party Secretary from 2006 to ¶2007. For most of 2007 he also served as chair of the Guangxi People's Congress. He was Guangxi Deputy Party Secretary from 2000 to 2006. His previous positions include Deputy Secretary General of the State Council (1994-2000),Deputy Editor in Chief of the People's Daily (1993-1994),and Secretary of the Central Chinese Communist Youth League Secretariat (1985-1993). GOLDBERG