British health foods chain Holland & Barrett plans to invest £50 million (500 million yuan) in China, as it follows a Shanghai launch with 328 store openings at prefectural cities across the country.
By Shen Nianzu (沈念祖), an intern reporter
Nation, page 10
Issue No. 571
May 28, 2012
Translated by Zhu Na
Original article: [Chinese]
As local leadership changes draw to an end [this story was published in May], new faces are taking their places on the communist party Standing Committees of each province.
Of the 24 provinces reappointing their committees, every one except Xinjiang saw new blood.
Since it’s from these committees that the nation’s top decision-makers will emerge, the Economic Observer decided to explore how their members are appointed.
Most of the newly elected members are the top leaders in the local governments - according to incomplete statistics available to the EO, 24 of the 66 members are secretaries of the municipal party committees.
In addition, the deputy secretary of the party municipal committee is also automatically a reserve member of the provincial standing committee. Among the new entrants this time, six are deputy secretaries in provincial capitals.
Vice Governors are also among the candidates jostling for places – currently, they occupy 14 places.
Four of the new standing committee members have a background in the courts and procuratorate. They include Luo Bu Dun Zhu (罗布顿珠) of Tibet and An Dong (安东) of Shaanxi, who will both retain positions on their regions’ courts.
“In general, the chief procurator and President of the Court shouldn’t enter the Standing Committee. This must only be a temporary arrangement,” said Zhu Lijia (竹立家), a professor at the Chinese Academy of Governance, explaining that the arrangement is likely to change after the 18th party congress, which is expected to take place in autumn.
The leadership change in Guangdong attracted the most attention because the province was the first one to introduce contested elections. Hebei, Jiangsu, Fujian and Heilongjiang also had multiple candidates competing for individual posts.
In general, a province’s standing committee is made up of a secretary, two deputy secretaries and ten other members. Xinjiang and Tibet have two additional members.
Of the 66 newly-appointed members, 18 simultaneously hold the position of party secretary for a municipality. This dual status is standard these days, but was less common before 1990.
Twelve of the newly-appointed members will simultaneously hold the post of party secretary in cities other than the provincial capital, which one academic said might create a conflict of interest.
Another office held by many of the newly-appointed members is Vice Provincial Governor - 11 of them hold this position.
The Secretary of the Discipline Inspection Commission, whose role involves fighting corruption, also has an automatic seat on the standing committees.
This year’s local leadership changes only include one new Discipline Inspection Commission secretary - Ma Yongxia in Hainan province.
Of the newly-promoted members, half were born in 1960s and more than half of the officials have a doctorate or masters degree.
Links and Sources
Congressional Research Service Understanding China’s Political System
