Yang Jinbai
The deputy secretary of Hainan province, the linchpin of China’s South China Sea strategy. Formerly Vice Mayor of Beijing, Vice Chairman of Guangxi, and deputy general manager of the State Grid, which supplies power throughout China. An alternate Central Committee member.
Deputy Secretary of the Hainan Provincial Committee (2025 - Present); Deputy Secretary of the Party Group of the Beijing Municipal Committee, Minister of the United Front Work Department (2023 - 2025); Member of the Standing Committee of the Beijing Municipal Committee (2022 - 2023); Vice Mayor of Beijing (2020 - 2023); Vice Chairman of Guangxi Region (2018 - 2020); Deputy General Manager and Party Member of State Grid of China (2017 - 2018)
Titles Held
Born in 1973 in Hubei. A child prodigy who graduated at 21 from Xi’an Jiaotong University with a Master’s degree in power system and automation. Spent the next two decades working in the China Southern Power Grid, the second-largest power company in China, before being promoted in 2017 to Deputy General Manager of the State Grid (which holds a monopoly over all regions outside the south). One year later, he began his political career by becoming Vice Chairman of Guangxi. In 2020, he was transferred to Beijing to serve as Vice Mayor. In 2022, he was promoted to the Standing Committee of the Beijing Municipal Committee, and in 2023 he was promoted once again to the Deputy Secretary of the Party Group of Beijing. In 2025, he was sent to Hainan to serve as the Deputy Secretary (second-in-command). Given the importance of the power and energy sector in China’s technological and environmental ambitions, his scientific and technical expertise should make him a leader to watch, especially if he can revitalize Hainan’s economy.
Biography
He can be compared to various current or former Beijing mayors like Yin Yong, Cai Qi, and Chen Jining (current Secretary for Shanghai). His current superior in Hainan, Feng Fei, is a full member of the 20th Central Committee. Yang’s technical expertise also somewhat resembles Jiang Zemin’s.