Politics Minister of agriculture ousted and replaced

Ousted Han Jun [VGC/GETTY IMAGES]

China has removed Han Jun as the most senior Communist Party official at the Ministry of Agriculture, marking the second leadership change in under two years, Bloomberg reported yesterday.

Authorities appointed Zhang Zhu as the new party chief, according to an official statement released late on Tuesday, and then announced his appointment as agriculture minister yesterday.The official statement did not provide details on the reason for Han’s departure or indicate his next assignment.

At 62, Han remains below the de facto retirement age of 65 for ministerial-rank officials, Bloomberg reported. Han served less than two years in the role, making him the third agriculture minister in six years. Before his tenure at the ministry, Han worked as a senior government official in Anhui and Jilin provinces, both major grain-producing regions.

Earlier in his career, he was a leading researcher at a government think tank focused on rural development and received one of China’s top academic honors for his work. Han had replaced Tang Renjian, who was investigated and later convicted of bribery, according to Bloomberg.

Zhang, 58, is a trained agronomist who most recently served as deputy party secretary of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region in China’s northwest. He previously held several agriculture-related roles in the neighboring Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, state media reported, Bloomberg noted. PC