Construction of the Three Gorges New Channel project, with a total investment of nearly 80 billion yuan, officially commenced in Yichang, Hubei. Executive Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang attended and announced the start of construction, while Hubei Provincial Party Secretary Guan Zhiou was downplayed in the official report.
Elderly officials of the Chinese Communist Party pushed for Guan Zhiou to bypass Xi Jinping and directly assume the post of Hubei Provincial Party Secretary, taking charge of financial funds related to the Three Gorges Project.
Guan Zhi'ou, the current Secretary of the Hubei Provincial Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, took office in late May 2026, becoming the youngest provincial-level Party secretary in CCP China. He came up through the State Council system and was once appreciated and promoted by Li Keqiang.
At the end of May 2026, the central authorities issued a single transfer order removing Wang Zhonglin from his post as Secretary of the Hubei Provincial Party Committee, with Li Keqiang's former subordinate Guan Zhi'ou parachuted in to succeed him.