Chen Quanguo, former secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Regional Committee, has assumed the position as deputy head of the Central Rural Work Leading Group, according to official media reports.

On Tuesday, a symposium on studying and implementing Chinese President Xi Jinping's guidelines on the issues of agriculture, rural areas and farmers' livelihood was held in Beijing. According to national media Xinhua News Agency, Chen Quanguo, who is a member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, attended the meeting and delivered a speech as deputy head of the Central Rural Work Leading Group.

Chen was relieved of his post as Xinjiang Party chief in December 2021, official media reported at that time.

During Chen's tenure in Xinjiang, despite the continuous smearing by the US, Xinjiang effectively brought terrorism, separatism and religious extremism under control, which used to seriously damage security and social stability. The region has not experienced terrorist attacks for five years, paving the way for economic development.

Agriculture also flourished in Xinjiang as a result.

In 2021, the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps achieved a total of 172.8 billion yuan ($25.6 billion) in agricultural output, an increase of 8 percent over the previous year. The total grain output was over 2.8 million tons, an increase of 16.3 percent, a record high.

Chen served as secretary of the CPC Xizang (Tibet) Autonomous Regional Committee from 2011 to 2016, and secretary of the CPC Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Regional Committee from 2016 to 2021.

Chen is among the four officials in Xinjiang who were sanctioned by the US Department of Treasury in July 2020 over the US' groundless accusations of human rights violations in the region. In response, Chen refuted the allegations in an interview with Xinhua and said the sanctions are "blatant hegemonic actions."