'Pro-Korea' Meng Fanli Appointed Party Secretary of Guangdong, China's Economic Hub

Top GDP in China: 14 Trillion Yuan
Visited South Korea While Serving as Mayor of Qingdao

Meng Fanli, a senior official in Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, known in China as a "pro-Korea" figure, has been appointed as the Party Secretary of Guangdong Province, the country's economic hub.

On September 30, Southern Daily reported that the Guangdong Provincial Party Committee recently appointed Secretary Meng as the new Party Secretary of Guangdong Province.

Guangdong Province has maintained its position as China's top region in terms of gross domestic product (GDP) for 36 consecutive years. As of last year, its GDP reached 14 trillion yuan (approximately 2,758 trillion won), a figure larger than the combined GDPs of Beijing and Shanghai, both of which are around 5 trillion yuan each.

Secretary Meng, a native of Linyi in Shandong Province, graduated from the Department of Accounting at Shandong University of Economics and later earned his master's and doctoral degrees in economics from Nankai University and Tianjin University of Finance and Economics. He began his public service career as the head of the Finance and Accounting Department in Shandong Province, later served as Party Secretary of Baotou in Inner Mongolia, and was appointed as Party Secretary of Shenzhen, Guangdong Province in 2022.

Notably, he is considered pro-Korea, having served as mayor in Yantai and Qingdao-cities with a significant presence of Korean businesses-from 2013 to 2020. In 2019, while serving as mayor of Qingdao, he also visited South Korea.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.