Huang Xingguo

Huang Xingguo
黄兴国

Huang Xingguo speaks at the Annual Meeting of the New Champions in Tianjin in September 2010.
Communist Party Secretary of Tianjin
(Acting)
In office
December 2014  September 2016
Preceded by Sun Chunlan
Succeeded by Li Hongzhong
Mayor of Tianjin
In office
December 2007  September 2016
(Acting until January 2008)
Preceded by Dai Xianglong
Succeeded by Wang Dongfeng
Personal details
Born (1954-10-01) October 1, 1954
Xiangshan County, Zhejiang
Nationality Chinese
Political party Communist Party of China
Alma mater Central Party School
This is a Chinese name; the family name is Huang.

Huang Xingguo (simplified Chinese: 黄兴国; traditional Chinese: 黃興國; pinyin: Huáng Xīngguó; born October 1954) was the Mayor of Tianjin, and he has been acting as the Party Secretary of Tianjin.[1] Huang is originally from Zhejiang province, and previously served as party chief of Ningbo, and the party chief of Taizhou. On September 10, 2016, he was investigated by the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection for "violating regulations".

Early career

Born in October 1954 in Xiangshan County, Zhejiang Province, he joined the Communist Party of China in 1973. Between 1983 and 1987, Huang served as the party chief in Xiangshan County. He went to Taizhou in July 1987, taking the office of deputy party chief and prefecture commissioner. During his time in office, he advocated for Taizhou to become a "prefecture-level city" and Huang earned the title of "Mayor". Taizhou's economy developed rapidly during Huang's term. It became one of the most affluent cities in the Yangtze River Delta.[2]

He was appointed to be the secretary-general of the Zhejiang provincial government. In January 1998, he was named vice governor of Zhejiang Province, then became the party chief of the city of Ningbo. During this time he also entered the ranks of the provincial party leadership, with a seat on the provincial Party Standing Committee, working directly under then-Zhejiang Party Secretary Zhang Dejiang and then, in 2002, under Xi Jinping, who later became party General Secretary. In November 2003 Huang was transferred to work in the coastal city of Tianjin as vice mayor.

Tianjin

In November 2003, Huang became the executive vice mayor of Tianjin, overseeing the economy and statistics collection. During his term as vice mayor, he was known for his cooperation with other city departments. In December 2007, he was named acting mayor of Tianjin, and confirmed a few months later by the municipal People's Congress, replacing Dai Xianglong. In 2009, Huang oversaw the transformation of the districts of the Binhai region into the Binhai New Area. In December 2014, Huang, after serving as mayor for some seven years, became the acting party chief of Tianjin, replacing Sun Chunlan, who was transferred to work as head of the United Front Work Department in Beijing. However, Huang was not confirmed as official party chief for unknown reasons.[3]

Under Huang, on April 21, 2015, Tianjin's first free trade experimental zone opened. Huang attended its inauguration. The trial of Zhou Yongkang, the highest-ranked official to go on trial since the Cultural Revolution, also took place in Tianjin between April and May, 2015, under Huang's watch.[4] The 2015 Tianjin explosions took place during Huang's tenure. Several days after the explosion, Huang was named head of the response committee. He told journalists that he "takes inescapable responsibility" for the incident as he was the main official in charge of Tianjin.[5]

He was among the finalists for the 2010 World Mayor prize.

Investigation

On September 10, 2016, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection released an announcement that Huang was undergoing investigation for "serious violations of regulations". The announcement was shocking to political observers, as Huang had maintained a positive reputation throughout his career and was not widely known to be subject to any kind of controversy. The removal of Huang from the posts of mayor and acting party chief meant that, remarkably, both party and government leadership positions in Tianjin, considered a highly political important municipality, fell vacant the first time this has happened in a direct-controlled municipality since the end of the Cultural Revolution. Immediately after the announcement, Tianjin deputy party chief Wang Dongfeng convened the local party organization to declare fealty to the decision and make other obligatory political pronouncements to stabilize the situation. Huang was the first sitting mayor of a direct-controlled municipality to be investigated by the CCDI since the 18th Party Congress, and the longest acting Party Secretary since Chinese economic reform in 1978.[6][7][8]

References

Political offices
Preceded by
Dai Xianglong
Mayor of Tianjin
2007 2016
Succeeded by
Wang Dongfeng
Party political offices
Preceded by
Sun Chunlan
Communist Party Secretary of Tianjin
(Acting)

2014 2016
Succeeded by
Li Hongzhong
Preceded by
Xu Yunhong
Communist Party Secretary of Ningbo
1999 2003
Succeeded by
Bayanqolu
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