Career finance official moves into pole position to become Shanghai’s next mayor

Shanghai has named career finance official Zhu Zhongming as the municipal government’s new party chief, a role that puts him in line to become the city’s next mayor.

His appointment as secretary of the Shanghai government’s Party Leadership Group was announced on Saturday in an official social media post that said he had chaired a meeting of the body.

Zhu replaces the current mayor, Gong Zheng, in the post. However, the city’s most senior position is that of the secretary of the Shanghai Communist Party committee, which is currently held by Chen Jining.

In China’s party-state system, municipal governments operate under the leadership of the party, which sets the broader political direction while the government handles day-to-day administration.

Zhu’s appointment comes a year ahead of the next national party congress, which is expected to see a major leadership reshuffle.

If Chen is promoted to a more senior role in Beijing, a move that would be in keeping with the precedent set over the past two decades, it would create vacancies at the top of Shanghai’s leadership.

Zhu, 54, is a career finance official who spent much of his working life in his native province of Zhejiang, where he is believed to have crossed paths with Premier Li Qiang during the latter’s spell as governor.