China Names Legal Expert as Deputy in Hong Kong Liaison Office
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A prominent legal expert has been named a deputy director of Beijing’s liaison office in Hong Kong, part of a broader reshuffle of officials with prestigious academic credentials in China’s government.
Yuan Guijie, who previously served as the top security official in the neighboring southern Guangdong province, has been appointed deputy director of the Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, according to a government notice on Monday.Yuan, 58, will rank second among the office’s four deputy directors.
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- Yuan Guijie appointed deputy director of Beijing's liaison office in Hong Kong, ranking second among four deputies.
- She holds a PhD in international law from Peking University, with background in academia, legislative, prosecutorial, and security roles.
- Yuan is among several Peking University law graduates recently receiving high-level government appointments.
- May 1968：
- Yuan Guijie was born in Zunyi, Guizhou province.
- 1988：
- Yuan Guijie graduated from Sun Yat-sen University's law department and briefly worked as a legal advisor.
- 1993：
- Yuan Guijie obtained a master's degree in international law from Sun Yat-sen University and later practiced as a lawyer.
- Between 1994 and 1997：
- Yuan Guijie pursued a doctorate in international law at Peking University, including a year as a visiting scholar at Korea University's International Law Research Center.
- 1997：
- Yuan Guijie graduated with a doctorate and returned to Guangdong to teach at South China Normal University.
- 2004：
- Yuan Guijie rose to dean of the law school at South China Normal University and published a monograph titled 'Theory and Practice of International Maritime Delimitation'.
- 2006：
- Yuan Guijie transitioned to public administration, joining the Legislative Affairs Commission of the Guangdong Provincial People's Congress Standing Committee as a full-time deputy director.
- 2011：
- Yuan Guijie served as head of publicity for the coastal city of Yangjiang.
- 2016：
- Yuan Guijie served as deputy procurator-general of the Guangdong Provincial People's Procuratorate.
- 2018：
- Yuan Guijie served as director of the provincial ethnic and religious affairs commission.
- 2019：
- Yuan Guijie became mayor of Maoming, the only female mayor among Guangdong's 21 prefecture-level cities at the time.
- 2021：
- Yuan Guijie was promoted to Communist Party chief of Maoming, the province's sole female municipal party secretary.
- By May 2022：
- Yuan Guijie was elevated to the Guangdong provincial party standing committee and assumed the role of provincial security chief; later that year, she was elected as an alternate member of the Communist Party’s Central Committee.
- Late May 2026：
- Chen Dongsheng was promoted to head of the political department at the Supreme People's Procuratorate.
- May 27, 2026：
- Ma Zhengyong was appointed vice governor of Sichuan province.
- May 29, 2026：
- Bai Ying was appointed vice governor of Liaoning province.
- Monday, June 1, 2026：
- Yuan Guijie was appointed deputy director of the Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, as announced by the State Council; Liu Guangyuan was removed as first-ranked deputy director; Liu Songlin was appointed secretary-general of the Liaison Office in 2026.
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