21 Facts About Huang Xingguo

Huang Xingguo was the Mayor of Tianjin, and, between 2015 and 2016, the acting Party Secretary of Tianjin.

Huang Xingguo was sentenced to 12 years in prison upon being convicted on charges of bribery.

Between 1983 and 1987, Huang Xingguo served as the party chief in Xiangshan County.

Huang Xingguo went to Taizhou in July 1987, taking the office of deputy party chief and prefecture commissioner.

Huang Xingguo was appointed to be the secretary-general of the Zhejiang provincial government.

In November 2003 Huang Xingguo was transferred to work in the coastal city of Tianjin as vice mayor.

In November 2003, Huang Xingguo became the executive vice mayor of Tianjin, overseeing the economy and statistics collection.

In 2009, Huang Xingguo oversaw the transformation of the districts of the Binhai region into the Binhai New Area.

In December 2014, Huang Xingguo, after serving as mayor for some seven years, became the acting party chief of Tianjin, replacing Sun Chunlan, who was transferred to work as head of the United Front Work Department in Beijing.

However, Huang Xingguo was not confirmed as official party chief for unknown reasons.

Several days after the explosion, Huang Xingguo was named head of the response committee.

Huang Xingguo told journalists that he "takes inescapable responsibility" for the incident as he was the main official in charge of Tianjin.

Huang Xingguo was among the finalists for the 2010 World Mayor prize.

On September 10,2016, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection announced that Huang Xingguo was undergoing investigation for "serious violations of regulations".

The announcement was shocking to political observers, as Huang Xingguo had maintained a positive reputation throughout his career and was not widely known to be subject to any kind of controversy.

Huang Xingguo himself apparently did not anticipate his sudden downfall; on state television footage, Huang Xingguo said that when CCDI officers came to Tianjin for a "second look" at the city's progress in combating corruption, he thought it was a routine exercise.

Huang Xingguo's troubles seem to have begun long prior - during the 2014 inspection of the city's party organization by central inspection teams, and the "second look" confirmed the seriousness of Huang Xingguo's "political and economic problems".

The inspection authorities alleged that Huang Xingguo had not taken the correct political stance on major issues, superficially adhering to the policies of the party's central authorities but in fact carrying out a different direction.

Huang Xingguo was the first sitting mayor of a direct-controlled municipality to be investigated by the CCDI since the 18th Party Congress, and the longest "acting" Party Secretary since Chinese economic reform in 1978, having held the position for 21 months without assuming the post in an official capacity.

Huang Xingguo was summarily expelled from the Communist Party on January 4,2017, and sent to judicial authorities for processing.

On September 25,2017, Huang Xingguo was convicted on charges of bribery by the People's Intermediate Court in Shijiazhuang, and sentenced to 12 years in prison.