Since September, Liaoning has seen a series of high-level personnel changes: Xiong Maoping stepped down as Party Secretary of the province and Party Secretary of Dalian; Li Qiang, former mayor of Dalian, has been appointed as its new Party Secretary; and Yao Huaming has been transferred from Party Secretary of Yingkou to Dalian. In Shenyang, Hu Bugang has been promoted to Party Secretary of the province while retaining his position as Party Secretary of Shenyang; Ma Shanshan has been transferred from Fuxin to become mayor of Shenyang. This round of reshuffles represents a critical step by Xu Kunlin to reorganize Liaoning’s leadership and consolidate his political foundation ahead of the 20th Party Congress, underscoring the central leadership’s confidence in him. Xu Kunlin’s career began in the Price Bureau of the State Planning Commission, where he worked for many years under Bi Jingquan, the former head of the National Medical Products Administration who was later investigated and removed. After He Lifeng took over as head of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) in 2014, Xu was appointed director of the Investment Department—the most powerful division within the NDRC—launching him onto a rapid career trajectory. At the 20th Party Congress, as a key political ally of Vice Premier He Lifeng, Xu Kunlin, alongside NDRC Director Zheng Zhejie, is all but certain to enter the Politburo.