Xu Qifang, the former deputy governor of Shaanxi province, has been made an executive deputy director of the Hong Kong and Macao Work Office – the nation’s highest body for coordinating matters relating to the SARs.
In a statement yesterday, the central government announced that the 60-year old Xu would be put in charge of managing the office’s day-to-day affairs in his new post, which is equivalent to a ministerial level ranking.
According to Xu’s government biography, he held a number of major positions in Hainan province, serving as a member of the Hainan Provincial Committee of the Chinese Communist Party and the head of the provincial Organisation Department.
In addition, the civil servant previously took on the role as the head of China’s State Administration of Civil Service. He is currently a member of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress of China.
Xu shares the position of deputy director with four other individuals, including Zhou Ji, who was previously in charge of managing the office’s daily affairs, but is now director of the central government’s Liaison Office in Hong Kong.
Other deputies include Zheng Xincong, the previous deputy governor of Fujian province; Wang Linggui, the ex deputy chairman of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, and Nong Rong, China’s former ambassador to Pakistan.
[See more: Macao’s government has launched a major bureaucratic reshuffle]
Meanwhile, Xia Baolong, the former deputy mayor of Tianjin, holds the most senior position as the director of the work office.
In May of this year, Xia went on a six-day fact finding tour around Macao, meeting with local government officials and representatives from different sectors. The mainland representative reiterated Chinese President Xi Jinping’s “four hopes” for the city, which included economic diversification and administrative reform.
The next month, Xia conducted a five-day inspection trip in Hong Kong, where he attended a forum to commemorate the fifth anniversary since the city’s national security law came into force.
Internationally, Xia is best known for his comments in April, in which he used the term “American peasants” in an apparent riposte against the US Vice President JD Vance’s earlier remarks about “Chinese peasants.”
Other senior members of the work office include Geng Changyou, who heads the body’s disciplinary inspection and supervision group, and Xiang Bin, a member of the office leadership.
Formally established in 2023 with the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of the State Council as its foundation, the Hong Kong and Macao Work Office holds various responsibilities such as ensuring the implementation of the “One Country, Two Systems” policy and coordinating dialogue and work between the mainland and SAR government officials.
