China’s youngest mayor questioned · Global Voices
The youngest mayor in China is now believed to be <PERSON> (周森峰）.
The newly elected mayor is only 29 years old. His resume shows the rapid promotion he got in the past 5 years. Right after he graduated from Qinghua University, one of the best colleges in China, he was appointed to be the deputy director of the Construction Committee in Xiangfan, a city in Hubei province. A position many people can only dream of in their thirties, it started <PERSON>'s rocketing promotion, that finally leads him to be the mayor of YiCheng (宜城）.
This time, the People's Congress of Yicheng unanimously voted him the mayor, which is another shocking fact. A member in the congress said it was unprecedented. His mysterious promotion, therefore, has become the topic of the heated debate on the internet.
A denial of interview and public concern
A broadcast scription reads:
周森锋成为湖北乃至全中国最年轻市长的消息传开后，各路媒体纷纷要求采访这名政坛新星，但都遭中共宜城市委宣传部拒绝。宜城市委宣传部负责人声称，周森锋比较务实、低调，不希望媒体过多地宣传、炒作。该市组织部门一名工作人员说，相关领导已明确指示，任何人不得私自接受采访。
After <PERSON> was promoted to be the youngest mayor in China, medias floods in to request interviews with the new political star. 49
But all the requests were denied by the Publicity Department in Yicheng. The head of the department said <PERSON> is quite down-to-earth and low-profile, and doesn't want too much public attention. A staff told that the officals have ordered that no one should take interviews without approval.
Meanwhile, none of <PERSON>'s colleagues has given any information about the young mayor in his previous posts.
A short path to power
Three years after graduation, <PERSON> has been promoted to be the vice bureau chief, which is the second position he took. In the following two years, he was promoted for totally 5 times.
An editorial cited by the official media, People's Daily, posed a question on <PERSON>'s rapid promotion. The writer questioned whether the quick promotion violates the CCP regualtions about the procedure of cadre promotion.
<PERSON>, the blogger, writes:
再来看看中共中央关于《党政领导干部选拔任用条例》相关条款的规定。《党政领导干部选拔任用条例》第七条第一款规定， 提任县（处）级领导职务的，应当具有五年以上工龄和两年以上基层工作经历。
Let's check the relative provisions in ‘Regulations on promotion and appointment of CCP cadres’. The 7th term says that, in order to be a division chief, the candidate must have five years’ standing on service and more than two years’ experience in grass-root level. 49