Ma Guoqiang

Ma Guoqiang (Chinese: 马国强; born November 1963) is a Chinese politician, engineer, and business executive. He had served as Deputy Communist Party Secretary of Hubei province and Communist Party Secretary of Wuhan, the capital of Hubei, from 2018 to 2020. Ma previously served as Chairman of Baowu Group, China's largest steelmaker. He is an alternate member of the 19th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and was a delegate to the 8th National People's Congress.

Ma Guoqiang
马国强
Communist Party Secretary of Wuhan
In office
20 July 2018  12 February 2020
DeputyZhou Xianwang (mayor)
Preceded byChen Yixin
Succeeded byWang Zhonglin
Deputy Communist Party Secretary of Hubei
In office
March 2018  12 February 2020
LeaderJiang Chaoliang
(Party secretary)
Preceded byChen Yixin
Succeeded byWang Zhonglin
Chairman of Baowu Group
In office
October 2016  June 2018
Preceded byNew position
Succeeded byChen Derong
Personal details
BornNovember 1963 (age 57)
Dingzhou, Hebei, China
Political partyCommunist Party of China
Alma materHuazhong University of Science and Technology
University of Science and Technology Beijing
RWTH Aachen University
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese
Simplified Chinese

Early life and education

Ma was born in Dingzhou, Hebei, China in November 1963. He is a member of the Hui ethnic group.[1]

In September 1980, he entered Huazhong Institute of Technology (now Huazhong University of Science and Technology), majoring in materials management and engineering. In September 1984 he entered the graduate school of Beijing Iron and Steel Institute (now University of Science and Technology Beijing) and joined the Communist Party of China in December 1985. After earning his master's degree in 1986, he was hired by the institute as a faculty member. In September 1991, he was sent to Germany to study at the RWTH Aachen University on a government scholarship. He returned to China in September 1993 and continued to teach at the University of Science and Technology Beijing.[1]

Career at Baowu

Ma began working at Baosteel of Shanghai in July 1995, and became director of the Planning and Finance Department in 1999. He became deputy general manager of Baosteel in March 2001 and was promoted to general manager in April 2009.[1] In July 2013, he was appointed general manager of Wuhan Iron and Steel Corporation. He was elevated to its chairman and party secretary in May 2015. When Baosteel and Wuhan Steel merged to form Baowu Steel in October 2016, he was appointed the chairman and party secretary of the new company, China's largest steelmaker.[2]

Political career

Ma was a delegate to the 8th National People's Congress (1993–1998).[3] He was elected an alternate member of the 19th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China in 2017.[1] In March 2018, he was transferred from Baowu to the provincial government of Hubei and appointed deputy party secretary of the province. On 20 July 2018, he received the additional appointment as party secretary of Wuhan, the city's top official.[1] The position had been vacant for four months since his predecessor Chen Yixin was transferred to the national government.[1]

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Wuhan residents criticized Ma and his subordinate, mayor Zhou Xianwang for their slow response to the epidemic.[4][5][6] In an interview with China Central Television on 27 January 2020, Zhou admitted that the city government had failed to promptly disclose information about the outbreak and offered to resign, although he added that "it's an infectious disease, and relevant information should be released according to the law. As a local government, we can only disclose information after being authorized."[7][8][9] When Ma was interviewed by television host Bai Yansong four days later, he expressed his feelings of "regret, guilt and self-blame".[10]

On February 13, 2020, Ma was removed from his posts as Deputy Communist Party Secretary of Hubei and Communist Party Secretary of Wuhan.[11][12] He was succeeded by Wang Zhonglin, Communist Party Secretary of Jinan.[12][13]

References

  1. 马国强任武汉市委书记,已空缺4个月. Sohu (in Chinese). 20 July 2018. Archived from the original on 30 January 2020. Retrieved 30 January 2020.
  2. "China's Baowu Steel says will consider other M&A opportunities". reuters. 22 October 2017. Archived from the original on 27 May 2018. Retrieved 30 January 2020.
  3. "中华人民共和国第八届全国人民代表大会代表名单". National People's Congress. 1993. Retrieved 31 January 2020.
  4. "Mayor of China's Wuhan Draws Online Ire for '80 Out of 100' Interview". New York Times. 27 January 2020. Retrieved 30 January 2020.
  5. "UPDATE 1-Mayor of China's Wuhan draws online ire for '80 out of 100' interview". reuters. 27 January 2020. Retrieved 29 January 2020.
  6. Josephine Ma; Zhuang Pinghui (26 January 2020). "5 million left Wuhan before lockdown, 1,000 new coronavirus cases expected in city". South China Morning Post. Archived from the original on 28 January 2020. Retrieved 29 January 2020.
  7. Lu Zhenghua (28 January 2020). "Wuhan Mayor Offers to Resign Over Coronavirus Response". caixinglobal. Retrieved 29 January 2020.
  8. Sarah Zheng (23 January 2020). "Wuhan mayor under pressure to resign over response to coronavirus outbreak". South China Morning Post. Retrieved 29 January 2020.
  9. Yang Zekun (27 January 2020). "Wuhan mayor says will resign if it helps control outbreak". Chinadaily. Archived from the original on 29 January 2020. Retrieved 29 January 2020.
  10. "武汉市委书记马国强:我现在是一种内疚、愧疚、自责的心态". The Paper. 31 January 2020. Retrieved 3 February 2020.
  11. Dong Xin (董鑫) (13 February 2020). 马国强不再担任武汉市委书记,曾自责没有“早点决定、采取措施”. ifeng.com (in Chinese). Retrieved 13 February 2020.
  12. William Zheng (13 February 2020). "Coronavirus: Beijing's purge over virus takes down top Communist Party officials in Hubei". South China Morning Post. Retrieved 13 February 2020.
  13. Ming Xiaoli (明小莉), ed. (13 February 2020). 济南市委书记王忠林任武汉市委书记,接替马国强. taihainet.com (in Chinese). Retrieved 13 February 2020.
Business positions
New title Chairman of Baowu Group
2016–2018
Succeeded by
Chen Derong
Party political offices
Preceded by
Chen Yixin
Deputy Party Secretary of Hubei
2018-2020
Succeeded by
Wang Zhonglin
Party Secretary of Wuhan
2018-2020
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