Ying Yong

Ying Yong has been appointed secretary of the Hubei Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC), replacing Jiang Chaoliang, according to a decision by the Central Committee of the CPC on Thursday. 

The official announcement of the reshuffle came after a series of problems were exposed in the epidemic prevention and control work amid the COVID-19 outbreak.

Since the outbreak, the central government sent an inspection group to guide the epidemic control work in Hubei, and a number of local officials have been questioned and punished for failing to fulfill their duties in the prevention and control work.

Faced with the sudden COVID-19 outbreak, problems such as sloppiness and poor management of work have been exposed among Wuhan and Hubei authorities, reflecting severe loopholes in local governance. The appointment of the new official will not only enhance prevention and control measures against the outbreak but also aim to highlight the urgency of improving crisis-handling capability among officials, analysts said.

Born in November 1957 in Xianju, East China's Zhejiang Province, Ying's previous work experience focuses largely in the public security, political and legal affairs sphere. He has been working in Shanghai since 2007 when he undertook the position as an official in the Shanghai High People's Court.

In his effort in combating the virus in Shanghai, Ying, also head of Shanghai's leading group for virus containment, emphasized grass-roots level units' strength in fighting the battle. He also conducted detailed and thorough discussion with people working in residential communities, hearing their opinions concerning the containment work.

He also underlined the role that science plays in this battle. Ying suggested Shanghai use its edge as a "scientific highland" to support the prevention and control of the virus. Speaking at a conference on Tuesday, Ying suggested scientific achievements should race against time, against virus, to gain initiative of fighting the coronavirus.

Ying received on-the-job college education and a Masters degree in law and the title of the national grade-two grand justice, according to his resume available online.

An anonymous Shanghai-based expert praised Shanghai's virus containment work. He told the Global Times that Shanghai, home to millions of migrant workers, could be the next epidemic center for the coronavirus without effective preventive measures.

However, with effective and scientific measures, which do not disturb people's normal life, Shanghai has managed to keep the infection at a moderate level compared with other provinces and municipalities. The city reported 311 confirmed cases of the COVID-19 infection.

The expert attributed this to Shanghai's top-level officials' "modest nervousness" which means they did not panic when faced with the virus outbreak, but they also made urgent and scientific decisions based on data and professional knowledge of the epidemic.

Ying kept a clear mind at the early stage of the outbreak, said the expert, noting that Ying is also an official willing to take advice from other people.

In early February, Ying held a symposium in which he invited some officials who fought the SARS outbreak in Shanghai, in order to draw from their experience in fighting the new battle against the novel coronavirus, local media reported.

Ying was also reported as saying in late January after the virus broke out that "a non-sloppy government is one brave enough to face supervision; a government eager to make progress is one willing to accept criticism," in order to inspire residents to give advice on virus containment.