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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 GUANGZHOU 000151 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EAP/CM, INR/EAP, INR/B 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PINR PGOV CH
SUBJECT: Leaders to Watch: Guangdong's Rising Political Stars 
 
¶1. SUMMARY: By the end of the current term in 2013, the governor of 
Guangdong Province and six of eight vice governors will leave 
office.  In the selection of the next generation of leaders, 
experience in the Communist Youth League (CYL) and membership in the 
powerful local Hakka community will likely continue to be major 
advantages. Guangzhou Party Secretary Zhu Xiaodan, junior-most Vice 
Governor Wan Qingliang, Liu Zhigeng, Zhu Zejun, and Huang Yebin are 
all people to watch, as are Deng Haiguang and Li Jia.  END SUMMARY. 
 
 
Seven High-Level Openings in Next Five Years 
-------------------------------------------- 
 
¶2. By the next term of the Guangdong Provincial Government, which 
will begin in 2013, Governor Huang Huahua and six vice governors 
will vacate their seats due to term limits or the mandatory 
retirement age.  Huang and five of eight vice governors have a 
background in the China Youth League, a power base of President Hu 
Jintao.  If this trend continues as expected, CYL experience will be 
an important factor in the selection of new leaders.  Similarly, the 
Hakka community in Guangdong remains politically influential, giving 
ethnic Hakka candidates an additional leg up on their non-Hakka 
competitors.  Though neither CYL experience nor Hakka ethnicity are 
prerequisites for advancement in Guangdong, they might propel 
certain individuals past equally well-qualified colleagues, and thus 
remain useful criteria for assessing the career potential of 
government and Party officials here. 
 
Whose Star will Shine?  Greater Lights 
-------------------------------------- 
 
¶3. Zhu Xiaodan, 56, Guangzhou Party secretary since 2006 and member 
of the Guangdong Communist Party Standing Committee, will be a 
strong competitor for the governorship.  One senior Party officer at 
a government think tank said he would "not be surprised" if Zhu 
advanced to the Politburo in the future.  Huang Huahua will vacate 
his position as governor by 2013, if not sooner, and Zhu is a player 
in the province's power politics.  He has good CYL ties, having 
served 1971-1987 in various CYL positions, including as the 
organization's municipal Party secretary.  He gained administrative 
experience as Party secretary of Guangzhou's Conghua County 
1981-1991.  Within the Guangzhou Communist Party, where Zhu served 
1991-2002, he filled jobs that included deputy secretary general, 
Standing Committee member, director general of propaganda and deputy 
Party secretary.  Zhu subsequently served as deputy director general 
and then director general of the United Front while also filling a 
vice chairmanship of the Guangdong People's Consultative Conference. 
 Zhu was promoted to Standing Committee member and director general 
for propaganda, positions he held until assuming his current duties. 
 
 
¶4. Wan Qingliang, who at 45 is one of the youngest Guangdong vice 
governors and one of the best spoken, has an excellent background 
for becoming a future governor of the province.  Wan served as Party 
secretary for the Guangdong CYL 2000-2003 and is Hakka, to boot. 
Due largely to his relative youth, Wan might need to serve one more 
term as vice governor before competing seriously for governor, the 
highest position to which he could aspire in his native province. 
 
¶5. Liu Zhigeng, 53, a Hakka and Party secretary of Dongguan, likely 
has hopes of following the pattern set by his predecessors; 
Dongguan's three most recent principal officers have been promoted, 
including current vice governor Tong Xing.  During the most recent 
CPC Plenum, Governor Huang Huahua attended Dongguan's group 
discussion sessions -- one factor believed by some to indicate 
Huang's support of Liu. 
 
¶6. Zhu Zejun's tenure as Party secretary of Guangzhou's Zengcheng 
City has been highlighted by his implementation of a county-wide 
zoning scheme ultimately adopted by the provincial government.  The 
program designates areas for ecological protection in addition to 
the normal zones for residential and industrial use; Zhu is 
particularly proud of how well he has been able to divide the land 
mass of Zengcheng and, in the process, have government leaders visit 
the city to laud his bold urban blueprint.  Among county-level 
officials in China, Zhu is one of the most frequently quoted in the 
People's Daily and its subordinate publications.  On the opening day 
of the most recent provincial Party Plenum, Zhu was one of the few 
Guangzhou officials interviewed by Guangdong Television.  Zhu, who 
is 54, previously worked in the executive office of the Guangdong 
Communist Party Committee. 
 
GUANGZHOU 00000151  002 OF 002 
 
 
 
¶7. Huang Yebin, 52, currently serves as Huizhou Municipality Party 
secretary.  Huizhou has been chosen to pilot a number of recent 
reform programs, including rural residential property registration 
reform and a more comprehensive supervision mechanism for party 
members.  It has served as a pilot city for implementing "scientific 
development," the current buzzword in south China.  Moreover, 
Huizhou has been one of two Pearl River Delta (PRD) cities picked to 
experiment with urban and social integration.  Huang's prior 
experience as deputy director general of the Guangdong Development 
and Reform Commission makes him a natural choice to lead these 
trials. 
 
And Lesser Lights 
----------------- 
 
¶8. Deng Haiguang, 41, is the current mayor of Maoming Municipality 
and a Standing Committee member of the Guangdong People's Congress. 
He was the successor to Wan Qingliang in the Guangdong CYL, serving 
as the organization's Party secretary 2003-2007.  Maoming provides 
Deng with a proven platform, but it is unclear whether he will be 
able to take advantage of it. 
 
¶9. Li Jia, 45, currently serves as mayor of the Hakka area of the 
Meizhou Municipality.  Li worked in the CYL 1987-2001, first at Sun 
Yat-sen University's CYL and later at the provincial CYL, where he 
rose to be the organization's deputy Party secretary and where he 
served with Wan Qingliang (see above).  Li has three years of 
experience on the Standing Committee of the Guangdong People's 
Political Consultative Conference. 
 
GOLDBERG