Wan Qingliang

Wan Qingliang (simplified Chinese: 万庆良; traditional Chinese: 萬慶良; pinyin: Wàn Qìngliáng; born February 1964) is a former Chinese politician from Guangdong province. He served as the Mayor of Guangzhou, one of China's most populous cities, from 2010 to 2011, and was then promoted to Communist Party Secretary, the top official of the city. In June 2014, the Communist Party's anti-corruption agency announced that Wan was held for investigation.^[1] Wan was expelled from Communist Party of China on October 9, 2014. He faces criminal charges related to bribery.^[2]

Career

Wan was born in Wuhua County, Guangdong to a Cantonese family of farmers, the second of two children; his sister was eight years his senior. Wan took the surname of his mother. Wan walked five kilometers to a neighbouring town to attend high school. He did poorly on his first attempt at the gaokao exam and continued informal schooling, eventually earning an admission to Jiaying Teacher's College (now Jiaying University). In college Wan edited various campus magazines. After graduation Wan stayed at his alma mater as a lecturer. He met his wife at the college and they had a son. In 1986, he entered the party propaganda department in Meizhou, beginning his career in politics. In 1998 he became party chief of Jiaoling County. In 2000, he was promoted to head the provincial Communist Youth League organization.

In 2008, he was Vice Governor of Guangdong Province and was part of a group working to convert the Pearl River Delta region into a "core region of modern manufacturing" to replace older factories that had been closing.^[3] He signed an agreement with ASEAN, which CCTV.com said was designed to "explore and facilitate cooperation activities in various areas including agriculture, information and communication technology, trade and investment, tourism promotion, energy and environment, education and public health."^[4]

Representing Guangdong province, he signed an agreement to expand University of Macao on Guangdong's Hengqin Island, but under the jurisdiction of the Macao Special Administrative Region.^[5]

He was head of Guangdong province's participation in the 2010 World Expo.^[6] In November 2010, Wan was elected as vice president of the United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG).

Investigation

In 2013, a large number of Wan's associates and subordinates were detained for investigation, including vice-mayor Cao Jianliao. On June 26, 2014, Wan appeared in a "mass line" discussion conference, emphasizing, "when you engage in self-criticism, be daring, criticize yourself, criticize each other, don't be afraid." On June 27, Wan was attending a meeting at the provincial government when he was suddenly taken away by investigators.^[7] Plans for his scheduled visit to Guangzhou University were scrapped.^[8] Wan was the third alternate member of Central Committee to be investigated for abuses since the 18th Party Congress.^[8] On June 30, Wan was dismissed from his posts as a member of the provincial Party Standing Committee and party chief of Guangzhou.^[9]

On October 9, 2014, Wan was expelled from the Communist Party of China following an internal investigation. The investigations led to criminal charges of bribery.^[10] The Central Commission for Discipline Inspection said that Wan sought benefits for others through abuse of power, solicited and accepted large bribes, violated the "Centre's Eight Principles", and often frequented private clubs.^[11] It was reported that the club he frequented in the Baiyun Mountain was closed by the authorities.^[12] At the fourth plenum of the 18th Central Committee held on October 23, the full Central Committee ratified Wan's expulsion from the body and the party itself.^[13]

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