China Appoints Taxation Veteran to Head State Tobacco Monopoly
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File photo: Yao Laiying.
China’s top tobacco regulator has a new leader, as Beijing reshuffles management of one of the country’s most lucrative state-controlled industries.
The National Tobacco Monopoly Administration said Friday that Yao Laiying was appointed party secretary of the agency, replacing Zhang Jianmin, in a decision announced by a senior official from the Communist Party’s Organization Department at a meeting of tobacco-system executives. Yao previously served as the No. 1 deputy head of China’s State Taxation Administration. Zhang is over 61.
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- Yao Laiying, formerly deputy head of the State Taxation Administration, was appointed party secretary of China’s National Tobacco Monopoly Administration, replacing Zhang Jianmin.
- Yao has extensive experience in fiscal and taxation roles, having held various leadership posts in Tianjin, Hunan, and Beijing since 1989.
- The previous head, Ling Chengxing, was sentenced to 16 years in prison in May 2025 as part of China’s anti-graft campaign.
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Who’s Who
- China National Tobacco Corp.
- China National Tobacco Corp. operates as one institution with two names, also being the National Tobacco Monopoly Administration. It is a ministerial-level body under the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. This entity oversees the administrative control of the tobacco monopoly and manages the production, supply, sales, and financial aspects of the tobacco industry, including domestic and foreign trade.
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What Happened When
- 1985：
- Yao Laiying entered Shandong University to study economics.
- 1989：
- Yao Laiying earned his undergraduate degree and began working in the budget division of the Tianjin Finance Bureau.
- 1998：
- Yao Laiying received a master’s degree in public finance from Tianjin College of Finance and Economics.
- 2001：
- Yao Laiying became budget-division director at Tianjin Finance Bureau.
- 2002 - 2013：
- Jiang Chengkang served as head of the National Tobacco Monopoly Administration.
- 2006：
- Yao Laiying became deputy director of the Tianjin Finance Bureau.
- 2009：
- Yao Laiying became head of the newly established Binhai New Area Finance Bureau.
- 2012：
- The 18th National Congress of the Communist Party took place (reference point for subsequent agency leadership).
- 2013：
- Yao Laiying was promoted to director of the Tianjin Finance Bureau.
- 2013 - 2018：
- Ling Chengxing served as head of the National Tobacco Monopoly Administration.
- End of 2016：
- Yao Laiying left the Tianjin finance system and became party secretary of Nankai District.
- January 2018：
- Yao Laiying was elected vice mayor during a Tianjin government leadership reshuffle.
- 2018 - March 20, 2026：
- Zhang Jianmin served as head of the National Tobacco Monopoly Administration.
- October 2019：
- Yao Laiying was transferred to Hunan, joining the provincial party standing committee and becoming party secretary of the provincial state-assets watchdog.
- May 2021：
- Yao Laiying took a post in Beijing as a deputy head of the State Taxation Administration.
- October 2023：
- Ling Chengxing was placed under investigation.
- May 2025：
- Ling Chengxing was sentenced to 16 years in prison.
- March 20, 2026：
- Yao Laiying was appointed party secretary of the National Tobacco Monopoly Administration, replacing Zhang Jianmin.
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