Key provincial leadership changes announced across several regions

The Communist Party of China Central Committee appointed new Party chiefs for the provinces of Yunnan and Hunan on Saturday in line with similar appointments in other provinces in top Party and government positions recently.

Mo Gaoyi was appointed Party chief in the southwestern province of Yunnan, replacing Wang Ning.

Mo, 61, had served as deputy head of the Publicity Department of the CPC Central Committee and director of the State Council Information Office since March 2024. He previously held the positions of head of the publicity department of the nation's top anti-graft bodies, member of the editorial board of People's Daily and head of the publicity department of the Beijing Municipal Committee.

Wang Zhijun succeeded Shen Xiaoming as Party chief of Hunan in Central China, the CPC Central Committee announced.

The 61-year-old had been deputy secretary-general of the State Council since June 2023. He previously served as the vice-minister of industry and information technology and deputy Party chief of Heilongjiang province.

In Hebei province, Zhao Chenxin was appointed acting governor on Sunday after he was named as the province's deputy Party secretary, and secretary of the leading Party members group of the provincial government. Zhao, 57, had been deputy secretary of the leading Party members group since May 2025. He previously served as vice-minister of the National Development and Reform Commission.

Zhuge Yujie was named deputy Party secretary of Qinghai province and secretary of the leading Party members group of the provincial government.

The 55-year-old had been deputy Party secretary of Hubei province since March 2023. He had previously held senior Party roles in Shanghai.

In Yunnan, Liu Qifan was appointed deputy Party secretary, as well as secretary of the leading Party members group of the provincial government.

Liu had served as deputy Party secretary of Qinghai since December 2023. The 59-year-old previously held senior Party positions in the provinces of Guizhou, Liaoning and the Inner Mongolia autonomous region.

A number of provincial governments also announced key leadership changes.

Xie Weijiang, the former deputy Party secretary of Hunan and Party chief of Yueyang city, Guo Ningning, former deputy Party secretary of Fujian province as well as Party chief of the provincial capital Fuzhou, and Chen Yongqi, former deputy Party secretary of Jiangxi province and head of its political and legal affairs commission, were all named secretaries of leading Party members groups of Hunan, Fujian and Jiangxi, respectively.

According to both internal Party procedures and national laws, the positions of provincial governor and secretary of the leading Party members group are typically held by the same person.

During a transition period, the newly appointed secretary of the leading Party members group will preside over the work of the provincial government.

The standing committee of the provincial people's congress will subsequently appoint the individual as the acting governor.

If the candidate receives more than half of the votes cast by all deputies at the plenary session of the provincial people's congress held early the following year, he or she will be formally elected as the governor.