Jin Zhuanglong has been replaced by Li Lecheng as Communist Party Secretary of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT). The notice did not say whether he was under investigation for corruption, but he was last seen in public two months ago. He nominally remains MIIT Minister, but it is likely that the National People's Congress (NPC), which meets for its annual session on March 5, will also remove him from this position. 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. His successor as Party Secretary, Li Lecheng, 59, has been Governor of Liaoning province.
The MIIT oversees China’s vast internet infrastructure, including the licensing of new technologies, electric cars and the development of 5G and 6G communication networks, and is responsible to make China less reliant on foreign technology. Jin is an aerospace expert who specialized in winged missile design, graduating from Beihang University in 1986. Three years later he received a master’s degree in engineering from the Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology. Previously, he worked at the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation and the Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China. He also served as the Executive Deputy Director of the Office of the Central Military-Civil Fusion Development Committee.
In 2022, Jin replaced Xiao Yaqing as Party Secretary and Minister at MIIT. Later that year Xiao was expelled from the Party and demoted after anti-corruption investigators concluded he had taken bribes. Jin’s removal comes after a number of aerospace executives from state-owned enterprises (SOEs) were caught up in the anti-corruption drive.
Last week, Tan Ruisong, former Chairman and Party Secretary at the Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC), the country’s leading military aircraft maker, was expelled from the Party after being accused of taking a “huge amount” of bribes. In 2023, three senior aerospace executives were removed from the country’s top political advisory body, the CPPCC.
