New Party chief nominated for Sansha, China's youngest city

Tian Xiangli, deputy secretary of the Hainan Provincial Politics and Law Committee, was nominated to be the Party chief of Sansha, China's youngest city, which is in the South China Sea, according to an announcement by the Hainan provincial organization department on Monday.

Tian, 54, a native of Jiangsu province, has a master's degree in law and an MBA.

 A Dong, 46, a native of Liaoning province who has a doctorate in science and is deputy Party chief and publicity chief of Sansha, was nominated for mayor.

The announcement was made public for public review. If no one raises concerns about the nominations, the two will be  appointed soon.  

Xiao Jie, current Party chief and mayor of Sansha, 56, was recently elected as a member of the standing committee of the Hainan Provincial CPC Committee and appointed as secretary of the Hainan Provincial Politics and Law Committee.

Sansha city was officially established in 2012 to administer the Xisha, Zhongsha and Nansha islands and their surrounding waters in the South China Sea.

Sansha, nicknamed the "city of spray" because of its proximity to the sea, is becoming a major tourist attraction, comparable to the Maldives.

Over the past five years, the city government, seated on Yongxing Island, the largest island in Xisha, has made remarkable progress to protect the local environment, such as establishing new garbage collection systems, sewage treatment plants and afforestation efforts, promoting tourism and maritime search and rescue.