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China replaces industry ministry’s Communist Party chief Jin Zhuanglong

Jin was last seen in public two months ago when he appeared at a ministry work conference

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Jin Zhuanglong has been dismissed as the ministry’s party chief. Photo: EPA-EFE
Phoebe Zhangin Shenzhen
China has removed Jin Zhuanglong as Communist Party chief of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, two months after he disappeared from public view.
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He has been replaced by Li Lecheng, 59, the governor of the struggling northeastern rust-belt province of Liaoning, according to the ministry’s website.

He was also removed from a list of the ministry’s top leaders on the website. However, the announcement did not say that he was under investigation and it has not been confirmed whether he had been removed from his other role as minister of industry and IT.

Jin, 60, last appeared at a ministry work conference in Beijing in late December, where he reviewed the past year’s work and set out priorities for this year.

The ministry is at the centre of President Xi Jinping’s drive to reduce Beijing’s reliance on the developed world for technology.
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It also oversees China’s vast internet infrastructure, including the licensing of new technologies, electric cars and the development of 5G and 6G communication networks.

On taking over as party chief, Jin stressed the importance of greater international cooperation and technological advances to boost consumer demand.

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