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FM AMCONSUL GUANGZHOU
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INFO RUEHGZ/CHINA POSTS COLLECTIVE 0185
RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 0506
RUEHGH/AMCONSUL SHANGHAI 0115
RUEHHK/AMCONSUL HONG KONG 0157
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RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC 0169
RUEKJCS/DIA WASHDC 0165
RHHMUNA/HQ USPACOM HONOLULU HI

UNCLAS GUANGZHOU 000348 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EAP/CM, INR/EAP, INR/B 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PINR PGOV CH
SUBJECT: Island Life and Leadership Tourism: Hainan's Political 
Landscape 
 
¶1. SUMMARY:  Though far from the center of power in Beijing, leaders 
of the southern island province of Hainan have gone on to bigger and 
better things, as in the case of former Hainan Party Secretary and 
current Vice Premier Wang Qishan.  Today it is home to several 
leaders with promotion potential, including Governor Luo Baoming and 
provincial Standing Committee Member Lou Yangsheng.  END SUMMARY. 
 
Catching the Wave -- What It Takes to Advance 
--------------------------------------------- 
 
¶2.  What does it take to move into positions of power in Hainan? 
The right resume doesn't hurt; Haikou and Sanya party secretaries 
routinely find themselves promoted to concurrent membership on the 
Hainan Communist Party Standing Committee.  Hainan's current 
Standing Committee consists of no fewer than three current or former 
Haikou or Sanya party secretaries: Chen Ci, currently at Haikou; 
Jiang Zelin, currently at Sanya; and former Haikou Party Secretary 
Wang Weilu. 
 
¶3.  Though not necessarily widespread, experience with petroleum 
issues may be a factor in the selection of at least some Hainan 
officials.  Vice Governor Li Guoliang, who arrived in Hainan in 2004 
to oversee Sinopec's refinery project on the island, was one of 
three new vice governors selected in 2007.  Current Party Secretary 
Wei Liucheng, was a former President of China National Offshore Oil 
Company (CNOOC). 
 
The Next Party Secretary? 
------------------------- 
 
¶4.  Current Provincial Party Secretary Wei Liucheng will retire in 
2011, opening a vacancy with no clear frontrunner for now. 
Predicting who will move up to fill leadership positions in Hainan 
is difficult due to Beijing's common practice of appointing 
officials from elsewhere in China.  Among the current governor and 
six vice governors, four have lived in the province less than six 
years.  Former Hainan Party Secretary and current Vice Premier Wang 
Qishan was a Beijing-directed transplant, as are current Party 
Secretary Wei Liucheng and a number of former vice governors. 
 
Who Has What It Takes? -- The Governor 
-------------------------------------- 
 
¶5.  There is the possibility that current Governor Luo Baoming -- 
who appears to have a good reputation for competence -- could 
advance, possibly to the post of provincial party secretary, though 
he has only been in his present position since 2007.  Luo has been 
in Hainan, however, since his transfer from Tianjin to be the 
island's deputy provincial party secretary in 2001.  Luo is 
advantaged by his experience as party secretary of Tianjin's 
Communist Youth League (CYL) from 1981 to 1992, time that likely 
links him to Hu Jintao's CYL power center. 
 
The Mayors 
---------- 
 
¶6.  Mayors of Hainan's two major cities are generally candidates for 
promotion to municipal party secretary positions, though current 
Haikou Mayor Xu Tangxian -- who will be 58 at the end of his term in 
2012 -- is probably too old to be promoted.  Current Sanya mayor 
Wang Yong, however, is in a better position; he is now only 52 and 
has previous experience working with the Communist Youth League in 
Shandong Province. 
 
And More 
-------- 
 
¶7.  Another noteworthy official with CYL experience is Lou 
Yangsheng, the Standing Committee member in charge of the powerful 
Organization Department of the Hainan Communist Party Committee. 
Lou, who came to Hainan only in 2009, is only 50 years old and is 
the former party secretary of Zhejiang Province's Communist Youth 
League. 
 
¶8.  For more information on the portfolios of senior Hainan 
officials, see ConGen Guangzhou's Communities@State blog at: 
http://www.intelink.gov 
/communities/state/southchinasez/ 
 
GOLDBERG