Caixin (May 7) reported that five provincial capitals announced the appointment or departure of top officials during the month, including Changchun in Jilin province, Nanjing in Jiangsu, Nanchang in Jiangxi, Shijiazhuang in Hebei and Lanzhou in Gansu. It added that leadership changes in provincial capitals are the most important part of local government personnel reshuffles.

(Comment: These personnel changes appear to be part of Chinese President Xi Jinping's effort to ensure that there is no opposition to his securing a third term at the 20th Party Congress scheduled for late next year.)