Liaison office chief Zhang Xiaoming to leave Hong Kong for Beijing post, source says

Zhang will oversee city’s affairs from capital while Wang Zhimin to become new director of the central government’s liaison office in Hong Kong

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Zhang Xiaoming will take over as a top official overseeing the city’s affairs in the capital. Photo: Xiaomei Chen

Published: 2:00pm, 18 Sep 2017Updated: 11:23pm, 18 Sep 2017

Beijing’s chief representative in Hong Kong, a veteran known for his firm stance against the central government’s critics, will return to the capital and take over as a top official overseeing Hong Kong and Macau affairs, the Post has learned.

Zhang Xiaoming, 54, will replace career diplomat Wang Guangya, 67, as director of the State Council’s Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office.

Wang Zhimin will become the director of the liaison office in Hong Kong. Photo: Jonathan Wong

A source also revealed that Zhang’s post of director of the central government’s liaison office in the city will be taken over by Wang Zhimin, currently the head of Beijing’s liaison office in Macau.

Zhang has been director of the liaison office in Hong Kong since December 2012 and has sought to manage the central government’s relations with various sectors in the city.

In July 2013, he became the first liaison office director to accept an invitation to have lunch with all Legislative Council members. More than 50 lawmakers, including many opposition pan-democrats, attended the event to meet Zhang, who had gone to foster stronger ties with the pro-establishment parties.