Lou Yangsheng has taken over as Party Secretary of Shanxi Province from Luo Huining, who stepped down due to reaching retirement age. Lou Yangsheng is from Zhejiang and he worked in the province for over 32 years. His deep ties to Zhejiang have led many to classify him as part of the New Zhijiang Army, which describes a group of Xi Jinping allies that worked with Xi when he was Zhejiang Party secretary from 2002-2007. After Zhejiang, Lou Yangsheng spent five years in the provincial leadership of Hainan and Hubei. In June 2014, he  was appointed Deputy Party Secretary of Shanxi – a politically sensitive post as Xi Jinping looked to root out the power base of Ling Jihua, Hu Jintao’s former chief of staff and a Shanxi native. Lou’ Yangsheng's promotion makes him a contender for the 2022 Politburo.

(Comment: Yunnan Party Secretary Chen Hao and Guizhou Party Secretary Sun Zhigang reached retirement age earlier this year and are due to step down soon.)