By William Zheng
A senior Chinese official with a background in water resources and ethnic affairs has been named as the new Communist Party boss of Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region.
In a one-paragraph announcement on Tuesday, state news agency Xinhua said the party鈥檚 Central Committee 鈥渞ecently decided鈥 that Chen Xiaojiang would serve as party secretary of Xinjiang.
The move might clear the path for Chen, one of the 300 or so members of the Central Committee, to be promoted within the party鈥檚 hierarchy, given that the Xinjiang party chief traditionally has a seat on the now 24-strong Politburo.
Beijing regards the stability of the region 鈥 which covers one-sixth of China and is a vital road link to Central Asia and the Middle East 鈥 as critical for its international infrastructure push, the Belt and Road Initiative.
Chen鈥檚 predecessor, Ma Xingrui, 鈥渨ill be appointed to another position鈥, according to the announcement.
Chen, 63, heads to Xinjiang after a stint as the executive deputy minister of the United Front Work Department.
The department is the party organ responsible for relations with non-party groups and individuals inside and outside mainland China, a brief that includes oversight of ethnic affairs and religious organisations within the country.
In December 2020, Chen became the first ethnic Han official appointed director of the National Ethnic Affairs Commission, breaking a six-decade tradition of putting an official from an ethnic minority group in charge of the area.
As the commission鈥檚 director, Chen replaced Bagatur, an ethnic Mongolian cadre, just months after protests erupted in Inner Mongolia over Beijing鈥檚 decision to increase the share of the school curriculum taught in Mandarin.
The appointment was widely regarded as part of President Xi Jinping鈥檚 push to integrate ethnic minorities in the country.
Chen was born in eastern Zhejiang province and worked in the Ministry of Water Resources for most of his career.
In an unusual move, Chen was transferred in 2015 to the propaganda department of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI), China鈥檚 top political disciplinary and anticorruption body spearheading Xi鈥檚 sweeping anti-corruption drive.
From there he was sent to the northeastern province of Liaoning to serve as its disciplinary head in the aftermath of a major election scandal in 2016. After a year, he was rotated back to the CCDI to become its deputy party secretary.
Beijing has remained tight-lipped about Ma鈥檚 next position. Before taking up the Xinjiang post in 2021, he was general manager of China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, party secretary of Shenzhen, and governor of Guangdong province.
Ma replaced Chen Quanguo, who was put on a US sanctions list over accusations of human rights violations.
In a separate announcement, Wei Tao, party secretary of Taiyuan, the capital of Shanxi province, has been appointed deputy party secretary of Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region and party chief of the regional government party group, clearing his way to take over the region鈥檚 government chairman role. The appointment will have to be formally approved by Guangxi鈥檚 people鈥檚 congress.