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RR RUEHCN RUEHGH
DE RUEHGH #0381/01 2520246
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 090246Z SEP 09
FM AMCONSUL SHANGHAI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 8258
INFO RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 3054
RUEHCN/AMCONSUL CHENGDU 2192
RUEHGZ/AMCONSUL GUANGZHOU 0650
RUEHHK/AMCONSUL HONG KONG 2357
RUEHSH/AMCONSUL SHENYANG 2183
RUEHIN/AIT TAIPEI 1986
RHEHAAA/NSC WASHINGTON DC
RUEHGH/AMCONSUL SHANGHAI 8909

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 SHANGHAI 000381 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR INR/B 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV ECON CH
SUBJECT: JIANGSU MUNICIPAL LEADERSHIP SHUFFLE ELEVATES POTENTIAL 
RISING STARS 
 
REF: GUANGZHOU 361 AND PREVIOUS 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary: A leadership shuffle in Jiangsu Province, 
sparked by former Suzhou Party Secretary Wang Rong's transfer to 
Shenzhen in mid-June, elevated officials to key posts in Suzhou, 
Nanjing and Yangzhou in August.  Based on their ages and 
previous experience, all three -- Suzhou Party Secretary Jiang 
Hongkun, Nanjing Mayor Ji Jianye, and Yangzhou Party Secretary 
Wang Yanwen -- appear to have a shot at further promotions. The 
likeliest rising star is 49-year old Yangzhou Party Secretary 
Wang, one of the few women to rise to a top Party position in 
any jurisdiction in China and one with military and Communist 
Youth League (CYL) connections.  End summary. 
 
 
 
Suzhou Party Secretary: Advanced Degree Not Required 
 
--------------------------------------------- ------- 
 
 
 
¶2. (SBU) On August 18, Jiang Hongkun was formally appointed 
Suzhou Party Secretary and a member of the Chinese Communist 
Party (CPC) Suzhou Standing Committee, replacing Wang Rong, who 
had been suddenly transferred to Shenzhen Municipality in 
Guangdong Province in June to replace cashiered Shenzhen Mayor 
Xu Zongheng (reftel).  A native of Zhangjiagang in Jiangsu 
Province, the 55-year-old Jiang was sent to the Jiangsu 
countryside as an "educated youth" (Zhiqing) during the Cultural 
Revolution.  In 1979, he became a worker at a diesel factory in 
Lianyungang in northern Jiangsu and was named general manager 
and party secretary of a local machinery company in 1985.  In 
June 1986, Jiang returned home to Zhangjiagang to become 
Director of the Municipal Foreign Economic and Trade Commission. 
 He later served as Zhangjiagang's Vice Mayor and Party 
Secretary. 
 
 
 
¶3. (SBU) Though Jiang had studied postgraduate courses 
periodically at Suzhou University when he was posted in 
Zhangjiagang, his official biography states he only holds a 
part-time "diploma certificate" for completing three years of 
university.  Jiang, who apparently lacks even an advanced degree 
from the Provincial or Central Party School, publicly said he 
regretted missing a chance to study when he was young but 
emphasized "a higher degree does not necessarily mean higher 
capability." 
 
 
 
The New Nanjing Mayor:  Business-Oriented 
 
----------------------------------------- 
 
 
 
¶4. (SBU) Ji Jianye, the newly appointed 52-year-old Mayor of 
Nanjing, took a more conventional road to the top of the 
provincial Party hierarchy.  Mayor Ji has a PhD in law and got 
an early start on his political career, joining the Communist 
Party in September 1974 and participating in a "Young Cadre" 
class at the Suzhou CPC Party School just shy of his 18th 
birthday.  He then spent the following 20 years in propaganda 
work in Suzhou, including serving as Deputy Editor-in-Chief of 
the Suzhou Daily, the municipal party committee's official 
newspaper, beginning in 1986.  In 1996, he was appointed Deputy 
Party Secretary and Executive Vice Mayor of the city of Kunshan 
-- a sub-jurisdiction of Suzhou located adjacent to Shanghai -- 
and then Party Secretary in 2000.  In 2001, he moved to Yangzhou 
where he served as Acting Mayor, Mayor and Party Secretary. 
 
 
 
¶5. (SBU) Though Ji specialized in propaganda work, he became 
well-known when he served as mayor of Kunshan where many Taiwan 
businesspeople work and live.  His move to Nanjing attracted 
attention across the Strait.  Some Taiwan media have described 
Ji as "business-oriented" and said he had established a sound 
relationship with the Taiwan public and private sectors by 
assisting Taiwanese companies' development in Kunshan and 
Yangzhou.  Since Nanjing is the capital city of Jiangsu province 
and an important transportation hub in southern China, Ji is 
 
SHANGHAI 00000381  002 OF 003 
 
 
also expected to further develop the city's business and tourism 
with Taiwan. 
 
 
 
Yangzhou: A Woman Takes Charge as No. 1 
 
--------------------------------------- 
 
 
 
¶6. (SBU) The only woman featured in this Jiangsu leadership 
shuffle, the 49-year-old new Yangzhou Party Secretary Wang 
Yanwen, has served as mayor of Yangzhou since 2004.  She has 
strong connections to the provincial capital Nanjing, working 
her way up through the CYL ranks to become Secretary of the 
Nanjing Municipal CYL Committee in 1996 and later rising to the 
position of Director of Nanjing Municipal Propaganda Department 
in 2001.  (Note:  According to an August 26 report from the 
Xinmin website, 21 of the 32 municipal-level women mayors and 
Party secretaries in China worked in CYL in the past.  End 
note.)  Wang began her working life serving in a military clinic 
under the Lanzhou Military Region in 1977.  In 1979, she moved 
to Nanjing and became a clerk in a hospital subordinate to the 
Nanjing Military Region. 
 
 
 
¶7. (SBU) Wang is considered to be an upcoming political star in 
Jiangsu.  Wang's rise through the ranks in Jiangsu notably 
coincides with the tenure in Jiangsu of current CPC Central 
Organization Department Director Li Yuanchao.  As Nanjing 
Municipal Party Secretary (2001-2003) and subsequently 
Provincial Party Secretary (2003-2007), Li would have worked 
with Wang in Nanjing and certainly had to have approved her 
appointment as Yangzhou mayor in 2004, if not her earlier 
assignment as Nanjing's municipal propaganda chief. 
 
 
 
Comment 
 
------- 
 
 
 
¶8. (SBU) Each of the three promotees in this round of leadership 
shifts in Jiangsu has the potential to move up in China's 
political hierarchy.  Based on his position alone, Jiang Hongkun 
is a figure to watch in national politics; three of Jiang's 
predecessors as Suzhou Party Secretary -- Chen Deming, Wang 
Ming, and Liang Baohua -- are now Commerce Minister, Jilin Party 
Secretary and Jiangsu Party Secretary respectively.  Though 
nearing the borderline age for assuming a provincial or 
ministerial-level position, Jiang, now 
 
the No. 1 in Jiangsu's second-most important municipality, has a 
better shot at further promotion than he did even as No. 2 in 
Nanjing.  In his new position, Jiang has a seat on the 
Provincial CPC Standing Committee, thus putting Jiang ahead of 
most of Jiangsu's vice governors in the political pecking order. 
 Similarly, Ji Jianye, has a better chance of earning further 
attention from the Central leadership as mayor in the provincial 
capital than he did in Yangzhou.  Finally, Wang Yanwen, not yet 
50, stands out conspicuously not only as one of the few women to 
take on the top Party position in any jurisdiction in China but 
as one with experience in both the military and the CYL and a 
clear connection to the official currently in charge of the 
Party's central personnel machine.  We suspect Mme. Wang will 
probably not end her career in Yangzhou. 
 
 
 
Bio Notes 
 
--------- 
 
 
 
¶9. (SBU) Jiang Hongkun, male, Han nationality, born in January 
1954, is a native of Zhangjiagang, Jiangsu Province.  He was 
sent to the Jiangsu countryside as an "educated youth" (zhiqing) 
in 1973 and was promoted to Deputy Secretary of the local 
 
SHANGHAI 00000381  003 OF 003 
 
 
Communist Party branch after six years.  In 1979, he was doing 
labor work at a diesel factory in Lianyungang city, Jiangsu 
province and was named general manager and Party Secretary of a 
local machinery company in 1985.  Before he was selected Mayor 
of Nanjing in January 2004, he served as Director of the 
Zhangjiagang Foreign Economic and Trade Commission; Zhangjiagang 
Vice Mayor and member of CPC Zhangjiagang Standing Committee; 
Zhangjiagang Party Secretary and Party Secretary of Zhangjiagang 
Free Trade Zone; member of the Suzhou CPC Standing Committee, 
Deputy Party Secretary, Acting Mayor and Mayor of Nanjing.  In 
August 2009, Jiang Hongkun was appointed Suzhou Party Secretary 
and member of CPC Suzhou Standing Committee. 
 
 
 
¶10. (SBU) Ji Jianye, male, Han nationality, born in January 
1957, also is a native of Zhangjiagang, Jiangsu Province.  Ji 
joined the CPC in September 1974 and began to study in 
middle-aged and young cadre class of the Suzhou CPC Party School 
in December of the same year.  His previous posts include Deputy 
Editor-in-Chief and Party Group member of the Suzhou Daily 
newspaper; Deputy Party Secretary of Wuxian County, Jiangsu 
Province; Party Secretary and Director of Suzhou Taihu Lake 
Resort; Mayor and Party Secretary of Kunshan city, Mayor and 
Party Secretary of Yangzhou Municipality, and Chairman of 
Yangzhou People's Congress Standing Committee.  In August 2009, 
Ji was named member of CPC Nanjing Standing Committee, Deputy 
Party Secretary, and Acting Mayor of Nanjing. 
 
 
 
¶11. (SBU) Wang Yanwen, female, Han nationality, born in April 
1960, is a native of Laiwu, Shandong province.  She began to 
work in 1977 and joined in CPC in 1980.  She holds a master's 
degree from the CPC Jiangsu Provincial Party School.  She began 
to work as an assistant in a clinic attached to the Lanzhou 
Military Region in Gansu province in 1977 and moved to Nanjing 
in 1979, becoming a secretary of a hospital under the Nanjing 
Military Region.  Her previous posts include Secretary of the 
Nanjing Communist Youth League; Magistrate and Party Secretary 
of Lishui county Jiangsu Province; Director of the Nanjing 
Municipal Propaganda Department and member of CPC Nanjing 
Standing Committee; and Deputy Party Secretary and Mayor of 
Yangzhou.  In August 2009, Wang was named Party Secretary of 
Yangzhou. 
CAMP