According to an announcement on the website of the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security on December 31st, the State Council has appointed and removed several national officials. Yang Jin was appointed as Vice Minister of the National Ethnic Affairs Commission; Lin Zechang was appointed as Vice Minister of Finance; Li Xinghu was appointed as Vice Minister of Transport; Zhan Hao was appointed as Vice Chairman of the National Natural Science Foundation of China; and Zhang Yong was appointed as Deputy Director of the Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. Concurrently, Bianbazhaxi was removed from his post as Vice Minister of the National Ethnic Affairs Commission; Yu Huiwen was removed from his post as Vice Minister of Ecology and Environment; Fu Xuyin was removed from his post as Vice Minister of Transport; and Qi Bin was removed from his post as Deputy Director of the Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.
Based on reports from Hong Kong media, Qi Bin, the former Deputy Director of the Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, has reportedly been recalled to Beijing and reassigned to a position related to the Economic Affairs Committee of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference. Zhang Yong, a member of the Leading Party Members' Group and Vice President of the central state-owned enterprise China COSCO Shipping Corporation Limited, is reported to have succeeded Qi Bin as Deputy Director of the Liaison Office and has already arrived in Hong Kong to commence his duties.
At the current public information level, the aforementioned appointments and removals are still primarily based on media reports; Hong Kong media has also noted that there is a certain time lag in the updating of information on the relevant official department websites. According to publicly disclosed executive information from the COSCO Shipping Group, Zhang Yong currently holds the positions of Vice President and member of the Leading Party Members' Group of the company, and also serves as the Group's spokesperson. Against the backdrop of continuously rising requirements for corporate governance and external communication in central state-owned enterprises, this combination of roles indicates he is responsible for both operational management duties and the organizational functions of external information disclosure and communication coordination.
Regarding educational background and professional training, it is understood that Zhang Yong holds an MBA degree from the inaugural class of Peking University, a postdoctoral background in Applied Economics from the Guanghua School of Management at Peking University, and a Doctor of Laws degree in International Law from the University of International Business and Economics. His academic and professional profile combines cross-disciplinary characteristics of macroeconomics, management, and international law, providing professional support for his subsequent long-term service in the fields of trade policy and compliance governance.
From an overview of his public career history, a significant portion of Zhang Yong's professional life has unfolded within the national economic trade governance and macroeconomic policy research systems. He previously held a position in the Bureau of Industry Injury Investigation at the Ministry of Commerce and served in various roles within the system of the Central Financial and Economic Affairs Leading Group Office / Central Financial and Economic Affairs Commission Office. This career path typically signifies substantial practical experience in industrial policy coordination, trade policy instruments, and cross-departmental comprehensive governance, as well as a familiarity with the logic of policy transmission and institutional design frameworks at the macro level.
Compared to the typical career history of central SOE executives, Zhang Yong also holds the additional responsibility for external information disclosure and communication coordination at the COSCO Shipping Group level. The COSCO Shipping Group's official website clearly lists his public role as including "Spokesperson." Furthermore, entries for "Central Enterprise Spokesperson Information" listing "Zhang Yong (Vice President)" for COSCO Shipping can be retrieved from publicly available information in the state-owned assets system. This role configuration suggests he not only participates in the Group's operational management but is also likely to play an organizational and coordinative role in the external explanation of major issues, policy communication, and public sentiment response mechanisms.
Against the backdrop of the high coupling between shipping and international trade rules, another point of external interest regarding Zhang Yong lies in his legal and compliance governance background. Public reports from academic institutions show that Zhang Yong has participated in related activities under the capacity of "President of the China Maritime Law Association, Member of the Leading Party Members' Group and Vice President of COSCO Shipping Group, and concurrently General Counsel (Chief Compliance Officer)." For instance, reports from the Law School of Dalian Maritime University mentioned that COSCO Shipping Group and the university jointly established an "International Shipping Law and Compliance Research Center" and released a model for Negotiable Cargo Documents (NCD), which was jointly announced by Zhang Yong and university representatives. Such work typically points to issues like the construction of shipping legal rule systems, the digitalization of documents and trade processes, and the standardization of compliance governance tools, also reflecting the emphasis placed by leading shipping SOEs on the 'systematization of compliance capabilities' in an environment of evolving external rules and tightening regulation.
Synthesizing the available information, Zhang Yong's career path exhibits a cross-evolutionary characteristic of "policy research—economic trade governance—SOE management—legal compliance": it covers both macro and economic trade policy lines, and also entails multiple responsibilities at the SOE group level, including management, communication, and compliance governance. For Hong Kong as an international shipping center, and for the shipping and port industry currently in a cycle of rule iteration, regulatory strengthening, and rising compliance costs, this type of composite capability structure is typically better aligned with the practical needs of "regulatory awareness, compliance frameworks, and cross-departmental coordination efficiency."
