Jiang Hongkun: Appointed as Party Secretary of Suzhou

On August 18, Jiang Hongkun, former Mayor and Deputy Secretary of the Municipal Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) of Nanjing, Jiangsu, officially took the post of Suzhou party secretary. The position was previously held by Wang Rong, who became the mayor of Shenzhen, Guangdong in June.

Actually, the news that Jiang Hongkun will take the place of Wang Rong came out in June, just as Wang resigned from the post of Suzhou party secretary. However, no official confirmation was available at that time.

Jiang, 55, was born in Zhangjiagang, Jiangsu. From 1986 he was in the posts of the Vice Mayor, Deputy Party Secretary, and Party Secretary of Zhangjiagang. In January 2001, he was promoted to be a standing member of the Jiangsu Provincial Committee of the CPC.

 During Jiang’s tenure, Zhangjiagang went through the fastest development in the history. Its development pattern was attributed as “the spirit of Zhangjiagang, which was an epitome of the “Southern Jiangsu pattern” which was quite useful in promoting the economic development of Jiangsu province. Jiang was also praised by the top leaders of China for his outstanding performance.

In October 2001, Jiang became the Deputy Party Secretary and Vice Mayor of Nanjing, capital of Jiangsu. Two years later, he was promoted to be the Mayor of Nanjing.

Jiang’s official resume showed that Jiang graduated from a junior college (a degree superior to the high school degree but inferior to the bachelor degree). Most of the Suzhou’s officials have high degrees and are called the “scholar official”. Jiang’s predecessor Wang Rong has the title of Professor and PhD Adviser. Therefore, Jiang’s comparatively lower education degree changed this tradition.