Zhu Zhongming, born in 1972 and currently serving as Vice Mayor and Acting Mayor of Shanghai, has been officially elected mayor of China's so-called economic capital. He is a party and government official from the "post-70s generation" (those born in the 1970s) who have recently made notable advances.

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Shanghai Mayor Zhu Zhongming, a prominent post-70s figure in Chinese politics, is widely seen as having a promising future. / Xinhua News Agency

According to Beijing sources well-versed in Chinese political affairs on the 1st, Shanghai elected Acting Mayor Zhu Zhongming as mayor at a meeting of the municipal people's congress held at the Expo Center on the afternoon of the 30th of last month. With this, he has officially assumed the mayoralty less than a month after being appointed acting mayor following the resignation of former Mayor Gong Zheng on the 4th of last month.

Sources noted that he is currently the second-youngest provincial-level government chief among China's post-70s generation. The youngest post-70s figure is widely known to be Lu Dongliang, 53, Governor of Shanxi Province. Consequently, alongside Liu Xiaotao, 56, Governor of Jiangsu Province; Liu Jie, 56, Governor of Zhejiang Province; and Wei Tao, 56, Chairman of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Zhu is seen as an undeniable standout among provincial-level leaders with a bright future.

After graduating from the Department of Public Finance and Auditing at the School of Economics at Wuhan University, a prestigious institution in Wuhan, Hubei Province, he began his public service career at the Zhejiang Provincial Department of Finance. He subsequently served as Director General of the Zhejiang Provincial Audit Department, Director General of the Zhejiang Provincial Department of Finance, and Vice Governor of Hunan Province, before rising to Vice Minister of Finance in the central government. In 2024, he transferred to serve as Deputy Secretary of the Shanghai Municipal Committee. Having built a career spanning public finance and auditing, he is recognized as a seasoned finance expert.

He is not currently a full member of the Party Central Committee, which has a 205-member quota, nor is his name listed among the alternate members. However, considering the weight of Shanghai, observers view that he will likely bypass alternate status or hold it briefly before advancing straight to full central committee membership. It is fair to say he has firmly cemented his place as a leading figure among the next-generation leadership in China's party and government.

                                                                                                           Hong Soon-do