Zhang Dongmei named new deputy director of office overseeing Hong Kong affairs

hang Dongmei has been named as a deputy director of the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office.

Photo: Handout Beijing has selected Zhang Dongmei, a former vice-president of the All-China Women’s Federation, as the new deputy director of a top office overseeing Hong Kong affairs, making her the first woman to take on the role since the body’s status was elevated in 2023.

Zhang’s appointment as the new deputy head of the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office (HKMAO) fills the vacancy left by the departure of Xiang Bin, a party group member of the office, earlier this year.

The State Council’s decision was announced by the state news agency Xinhua on Wednesday.

Her selection brings the office’s total number of deputy directors up to five.

The body’s top leadership also includes Zhou Ji, director of Beijing’s liaison office in Hong Kong.

Xia Baolong has led the HKMAO since 2020.

Three years later, the office was elevated to a unit that reported directly to the Communist Party’s central leadership.

Zhang has no known prior experience in Hong Kong affairs.

She previously served as head of the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Human Resources and Social Security in 2021.

She was made deputy head of the All-China Women’s Federation, the official organisation representing women’s interests in mainland China, in 2023.

On Wednesday, Beijing also picked Yang Weiqun, a former vice-chairman of the China International Development Cooperation Agency, to replace Huang Liuquan as the deputy director of the central government’s liaison office in Macau.

原文链接: 南华早报