JIANGSU MUNICIPAL LEADERSHIP SHUFFLE ELEVATES POTENTIAL

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 SHANGHAI 000381 SENSITIVE SIPDIS DEPT FOR INR/B E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV ECON CH SUBJECT: JIANGSU MUNICIPAL LEADERSHIP SHUFFLE ELEVATES POTENTIAL RISING STARS REF: GUANGZHOU 361 AND PREVIOUS ¶1. (SBU) Summary: A leadership shuffle in Jiangsu Province, sparked by former Suzhou Party Secretary Wang Rong's transfer to Shenzhen in mid-June, elevated officials to key posts in Suzhou, Nanjing and Yangzhou in August. Based on their ages and previous experience, all three -- Suzhou Party Secretary Jiang Hongkun, Nanjing Mayor Ji Jianye, and Yangzhou Party Secretary Wang Yanwen -- appear to have a shot at further promotions. The likeliest rising star is 49-year old Yangzhou Party Secretary Wang, one of the few women to rise to a top Party position in any jurisdiction in China and one with military and Communist Youth League (CYL) connections. End summary. Suzhou Party Secretary: Advanced Degree Not Required -------------- -------------- ¶2. (SBU) On August 18, Jiang Hongkun was formally appointed Suzhou Party Secretary and a member of the Chinese Communist Party (CPC) Suzhou Standing Committee, replacing Wang Rong, who had been suddenly transferred to Shenzhen Municipality in Guangdong Province in June to replace cashiered Shenzhen Mayor Xu Zongheng (reftel). A native of Zhangjiagang in Jiangsu Province, the 55-year-old Jiang was sent to the Jiangsu countryside as an "educated youth" (Zhiqing) during the Cultural Revolution. In 1979, he became a worker at a diesel factory in Lianyungang in northern Jiangsu and was named general manager and party secretary of a local machinery company in 1985. In June 1986, Jiang returned home to Zhangjiagang to become Director of the Municipal Foreign Economic and Trade Commission. He later served as Zhangjiagang's Vice Mayor and Party Secretary. ¶3. (SBU) Though Jiang had studied postgraduate courses periodically at Suzhou University when he was posted in Zhangjiagang, his official biography states he only holds a part-time "diploma certificate" for completing three years of university. Jiang, who apparently lacks even an advanced degree from the Provincial or Central Party School, publicly said he regretted missing a chance to study when he was young but emphasized "a higher degree does not necessarily mean higher capability." The New Nanjing Mayor: Business-Oriented -------------- ¶4. (SBU) Ji Jianye, the newly appointed 52-year-old Mayor of Nanjing, took a more conventional road to the top of the provincial Party hierarchy. Mayor Ji has a PhD in law and got an early start on his political career, joining the Communist Party in September 1974 and participating in a "Young Cadre" class at the Suzhou CPC Party School just shy of his 18th birthday. He then spent the following 20 years in propaganda work in Suzhou, including serving as Deputy Editor-in-Chief of the Suzhou Daily, the municipal party committee's official newspaper, beginning in 1986. In 1996, he was appointed Deputy Party Secretary and Executive Vice Mayor of the city of Kunshan -- a sub-jurisdiction of Suzhou located adjacent to Shanghai -- and then Party Secretary in 2000. In 2001, he moved to Yangzhou where he served as Acting Mayor, Mayor and Party Secretary. ¶5. (SBU) Though Ji specialized in propaganda work, he became well-known when he served as mayor of Kunshan where many Taiwan businesspeople work and live. His move to Nanjing attracted attention across the Strait. Some Taiwan media have described Ji as "business-oriented" and said he had established a sound relationship with the Taiwan public and private sectors by assisting Taiwanese companies' development in Kunshan and Yangzhou. Since Nanjing is the capital city of Jiangsu province and an important transportation hub in southern China, Ji is SHANGHAI 00000381 002 OF 003 also expected to further develop the city's business and tourism with Taiwan. Yangzhou: A Woman Takes Charge as No. 1 -------------- ¶6. (SBU) The only woman featured in this Jiangsu leadership shuffle, the 49-year-old new Yangzhou Party Secretary Wang Yanwen, has served as mayor of Yangzhou since 2004. She has strong connections to the provincial capital Nanjing, working her way up through the CYL ranks to become Secretary of the Nanjing Municipal CYL Committee in 1996 and later rising to the position of Director of Nanjing Municipal Propaganda Department in 2001. (Note: According to an August 26 report from the Xinmin website, 21 of the 32 municipal-level women mayors and Party secretaries in China worked in CYL in the past. End note.) Wang began her working life serving in a military clinic under the Lanzhou Military Region in 1977. In 1979, she moved to Nanjing and became a clerk in a hospital subordinate to the Nanjing Military Region. ¶7. (SBU) Wang is considered to be an upcoming political star in Jiangsu. Wang's rise through the ranks in Jiangsu notably coincides with the tenure in Jiangsu of current CPC Central Organization Department Director Li Yuanchao. As Nanjing Municipal Party Secretary (2001-2003) and subsequently Provincial Party Secretary (2003-2007),Li would have worked with Wang in Nanjing and certainly had to have approved her appointment as Yangzhou mayor in 2004, if not her earlier assignment as Nanjing's municipal propaganda chief. Comment -------------- ¶8. (SBU) Each of the three promotees in this round of leadership shifts in Jiangsu has the potential to move up in China's political hierarchy. Based on his position alone, Jiang Hongkun is a figure to watch in national politics; three of Jiang's predecessors as Suzhou Party Secretary -- Chen Deming, Wang Ming, and Liang Baohua -- are now Commerce Minister, Jilin Party Secretary and Jiangsu Party Secretary respectively. Though nearing the borderline age for assuming a provincial or ministerial-level position, Jiang, now the No. 1 in Jiangsu's second-most important municipality, has a better shot at further promotion than he did even as No. 2 in Nanjing. In his new position, Jiang has a seat on the Provincial CPC Standing Committee, thus putting Jiang ahead of most of Jiangsu's vice governors in the political pecking order. Similarly, Ji Jianye, has a better chance of earning further attention from the Central leadership as mayor in the provincial capital than he did in Yangzhou. Finally, Wang Yanwen, not yet 50, stands out conspicuously not only as one of the few women to take on the top Party position in any jurisdiction in China but as one with experience in both the military and the CYL and a clear connection to the official currently in charge of the Party's central personnel machine. We suspect Mme. Wang will probably not end her career in Yangzhou. Bio Notes -------------- ¶9. (SBU) Jiang Hongkun, male, Han nationality, born in January 1954, is a native of Zhangjiagang, Jiangsu Province. He was sent to the Jiangsu countryside as an "educated youth" (zhiqing) in 1973 and was promoted to Deputy Secretary of the local SHANGHAI 00000381 003 OF 003 Communist Party branch after six years. In 1979, he was doing labor work at a diesel factory in Lianyungang city, Jiangsu province and was named general manager and Party Secretary of a local machinery company in 1985. Before he was selected Mayor of Nanjing in January 2004, he served as Director of the Zhangjiagang Foreign Economic and Trade Commission; Zhangjiagang Vice Mayor and member of CPC Zhangjiagang Standing Committee; Zhangjiagang Party Secretary and Party Secretary of Zhangjiagang Free Trade Zone; member of the Suzhou CPC Standing Committee, Deputy Party Secretary, Acting Mayor and Mayor of Nanjing. In August 2009, Jiang Hongkun was appointed Suzhou Party Secretary and member of CPC Suzhou Standing Committee. ¶10. (SBU) Ji Jianye, male, Han nationality, born in January 1957, also is a native of Zhangjiagang, Jiangsu Province. Ji joined the CPC in September 1974 and began to study in middle-aged and young cadre class of the Suzhou CPC Party School in December of the same year. His previous posts include Deputy Editor-in-Chief and Party Group member of the Suzhou Daily newspaper; Deputy Party Secretary of Wuxian County, Jiangsu Province; Party Secretary and Director of Suzhou Taihu Lake Resort; Mayor and Party Secretary of Kunshan city, Mayor and Party Secretary of Yangzhou Municipality, and Chairman of Yangzhou People's Congress Standing Committee. In August 2009, Ji was named member of CPC Nanjing Standing Committee, Deputy Party Secretary, and Acting Mayor of Nanjing. ¶11. (SBU) Wang Yanwen, female, Han nationality, born in April 1960, is a native of Laiwu, Shandong province. She began to work in 1977 and joined in CPC in 1980. She holds a master's degree from the CPC Jiangsu Provincial Party School. She began to work as an assistant in a clinic attached to the Lanzhou Military Region in Gansu province in 1977 and moved to Nanjing in 1979, becoming a secretary of a hospital under the Nanjing Military Region. Her previous posts include Secretary of the Nanjing Communist Youth League; Magistrate and Party Secretary of Lishui county Jiangsu Province; Director of the Nanjing Municipal Propaganda Department and member of CPC Nanjing Standing Committee; and Deputy Party Secretary and Mayor of Yangzhou. In August 2009, Wang was named Party Secretary of Yangzhou. CAMP