Yang Xiaobo (born 1971)

Yang Xiaobo (Chinese: 杨晓波; born November 1971) is a Chinese politician from Shanxi province.^[1][2] She was investigated by the Communist Party of China's anti-graft agency in April 2014, then she was removed from office and expelled from the party in November 2014.^[3][4][5] Previously she served as the Mayor of the county-level city of Gaoping.^[6]

Life and career

Yang was born and raised in Yangcheng County, Shanxi. She graduated from Nankai University, majoring in economics.

Yang graduated from the Southeastern Shanxi Normal College in 1991, and began work in the Jincheng Mining Bureau. By 1995 she had already been promoted to a leadership position in charge of cadre management. She served in various posts in the Organization Department of Jincheng Municipal Party Committee before serving as Deputy Secretary of the Jincheng Communist Youth League organization.

From May 2006 to May 2011, she served as the head of Propaganda Department of Jinchen Urban District.

In May 2011, she was named acting mayor of Gaoping, a county-level city under the jurisdiction of Jincheng. This move was considered extremely unusual as it was rare for an official to be transferred directly from a propaganda director position one level below to a mayor position of significant power. A mouth later, she was duly confirmed as mayor.

As mayor she undertook a massive real estate development project with renowned Guangdong property developer Country Garden worth 2.6 billion yuan to 'revitalize' the city. She was also known to have a testy relationship with then Gaoping party chief Xie Kemin. The two were said to both have "strong personalities" and often clashed. As the Shanxi political scene reverberated from a strong 'earthquake' caused by the anti-corruption campaign under Xi Jinping, Xie was taken in for investigation on March 6, 2014.^[7]

On April 30, 2014, Yang herself fell under the anti-corruption dragnet, as it was announced that she would undergo investigation by the Party's internal disciplinary body for "serious violations of laws and regulations". She was the third consecutive mayor of Gaoping to be investigated for corruption in a mere decade.^[8] In November 2014, she was removed from office and expelled from the party for "took advantage of her post to seek profits for others, accepted a huge amount of money and property; and adultery."^{[9][10][11][12]}

References