Having served in Guangdong, Zhejiang, and Jiangsu, he is once again at the helm of Jiangsu.

Another member has joined the ranks of provincial government leaders born in the 1970s.

Recently, Liu Xiaotao assumed his new post as Governor of Jiangsu Province.

Looking back, he has previously served as the head of Chaozhou, Wenzhou, and Suzhou.

It is rare for a leader to hold key positions in all three of these major coastal economic provinces.

Through his cross-provincial experience, he has also developed significant insights into investment promotion and industrial development.

His appointment is seen as a crucial step toward Jiangsu’s high-quality development.

Standing at this new starting point, can Jiangsu write a new chapter in the “Southern Jiangsu Miracle”?

01 Spanning Three Regions: Setting Out Once Again

It has been just five days since his appointment as acting governor.

According to his public resume, Liu Xiaotao is a native of Xingning, Guangdong, and is known for his relentless work ethic.

He began his career in local government in 2012, serving successively in the cities of Maoming, Shantou, and Chaozhou.

While working in Maoming, faced with the complex situation following the merger of new districts, he drove regional transformation with decisive and energetic leadership.

Later, while serving as mayor of Shantou, he made his mobile phone number public to listen to public opinion, putting into practice the governance philosophy of “responding to the people’s calls.”

In Chaozhou, he became the first Party secretary of a prefecture-level city in Guangdong born in the 1970s. Through frequent and efficient research and planning, he quickly turned the situation around.

At that time, at a city-wide meeting of leading cadres, Luo Jijing, then Executive Deputy Minister of the Organization Department of the Guangdong Provincial Committee, praised Liu Xiaotao, stating that he “emphasizes follow-through and implementation, dares to tackle tough issues head-on, demonstrates a strong sense of responsibility, and employs diverse and forceful methods to drive work forward.”

In March 2020, Liu Xiaotao took up his first cross-provincial post, serving as Vice Governor of Zhejiang Province.

A year later, he was promoted to member of the Standing Committee of the Zhejiang Provincial Party Committee and Secretary of the Wenzhou Municipal Party Committee, becoming the youngest member of the Zhejiang Provincial Party Committee’s Standing Committee at the time.

He achieved significant results in promoting reforms in the private sector, optimizing the business environment, and deepening the market-based allocation of production factors.

He emphasized the need to focus on leading enterprises, develop industries with the boldness of snatching food from a tiger’s mouth, and continuously drive a wave of “large-scale investment promotion and attracting major investors.”

In October 2023, Liu Xiaotao moved north to Jiangsu to take charge of Suzhou. In the birthplace of the “Southern Jiangsu Model,” he continued his style of “hard work plus innovation.”

On his first day in office in Suzhou, he stated that he would humbly learn from the reform pioneers who created the “Southern Jiangsu Model” and fully leverage Suzhou’s “three magic weapons” (the Zhangjiagang Spirit, the Kunshan Path, and the Industrial Park Experience).

He also emphasized the need to “discuss matters together and resolve difficulties together.”

Liu Xiaotao set a “5 trillion yuan” industrial target, aiming to drive Suzhou’s total industrial output value of enterprises above designated size to exceed 4.7 trillion yuan by 2024, with growth rates ranking among the top in China’s trillion-yuan-level cities.

In April of this year, at the Global Investment Promotion Conference, Liu Xiaotao promoted Suzhou to the world using the “123456” framework, demonstrating the city’s resolve for open development.

In May 2025, Liu Xiaotao was appointed Deputy Secretary of the Jiangsu Provincial Party Committee, while continuing to serve concurrently as Secretary of the Suzhou Municipal Party Committee until his recent appointment as Governor of Jiangsu Province.

From Guangdong to Zhejiang and now to Jiangsu, he has accumulated experience in navigating diverse development environments and economic models, which holds significant importance for his leadership of Jiangsu.

This new appointment not only fully affirms his governance capabilities but also embodies the province’s earnest expectations for high-quality development.

02 Taking the Helm in Jiangsu: No Stranger to the Province

As a major economic province, Jiangsu ranked among the top in the country in terms of GDP in 2024.

However, it also faces multiple challenges, including slowing economic growth and a complex external environment.

At the Suzhou Economic Situation Analysis Meeting held in July 2025, Liu Xiaotao emphasized the need to “make every effort to stabilize the fundamentals of foreign trade and foreign investment” and to solidly carry out work such as securing orders and expanding into new markets.

This demonstrates that he has already identified the key issues facing Jiangsu’s economic development.

We believe that promoting high-quality development is another important task Liu Xiaotao must address.

During his time in Suzhou, he proposed “developing new-quality productive forces in a manner suited to local conditions” and accelerating the deep integration of scientific and technological innovation with industrial innovation. This approach is expected to be promoted at the provincial level.

As a key pillar of the Yangtze River Delta integration, Jiangsu must play a greater role in serving national strategies.

While working in Suzhou, Liu Xiaotao actively promoted the integrated development with Shanghai, deepening cooperation in areas such as technological innovation, industrial synergy, and joint ecological governance.

In August of this year, during a visit to Shanghai to attend a symposium with Shanghai Municipal Party Secretary Chen Jining, Liu Xiaotao stated that Suzhou would “treat the opportunity to benefit from Shanghai’s spillover effects as a major opportunity, focus on integrating into the Shanghai metropolitan area, and deepen the advancement of integrated development.”

Now, from a provincial perspective, he is expected to further promote the deep integration of Jiangsu with Shanghai, Zhejiang, and Anhui, and build a “model zone” for high-quality development nationwide.

During his tenure in Suzhou, Liu Xiaotao has already demonstrated his commitment to scientific and technological innovation.

He proposed “driving economic and social development through project planning and construction,” emphasizing the deep integration of scientific and technological innovation with industrial innovation.

Jiangsu Province has a massive economy, yet regional development imbalances persist; coordinating regional development will be a key challenge.

Moving forward, he is likely to further promote coordinated regional development within Jiangsu, fostering balanced growth across Southern, Central, and Northern Jiangsu.

Crucially, the economic development strategies implemented in Suzhou may be extended to drive technological innovation and industrial upgrading, thereby consolidating Jiangsu’s status as a major manufacturing province.

Regarding the strengthening of the work style of officials, Liu Xiaotao’s “workaholic” approach will influence Jiangsu’s administrative culture, fostering a more pragmatic and efficient work ethic.

As the top provincial leader among those born in the 1970s, the three provinces Liu Xiaotao has served—Guangdong, Zhejiang, and Jiangsu—coincidentally represent the regions where China’s private economy is most vibrant.

In terms of Jiangsu’s development, his responsibilities extend beyond the day-to-day operations of a provincial government to include the critical task of transforming China’s second-largest economy amid a complex international environment.

Against the backdrop of coordinated regional development becoming a national strategy, officials with experience across multiple provinces are better positioned to break down regional barriers and drive high-quality development.

At this historic juncture, as the integration of the Yangtze River Delta deepens and China’s modernization advances comprehensively, we will have to wait and see whether Jiangsu can write a new chapter in the “Southern Jiangsu Miracle.”