Li Lianyu

Li Lianyu (; born December 1959) is a former Chinese politician who spent most of his career in Jiangsu province. Through his career he successively served as the Communist Party Secretary of the county-level city of Pizhou, the Vice-Mayor of Xuzhou, and Deputy Communist Party Secretary of the Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture, in Xinjiang. He was removed from office in September 2014, and was investigated by the Chinese Communist Party's anti-graft agency in November 2014.

Li was known nationally for the massive "red carpet reception" held for him when he returned to his hometown after attending the 17th Party Congress in 2007. Thousands of locals lined the city's streets to receive the Secretary. The event drew significant ridicule and criticism for its unnecessary extravagance and what seemed to be a local cult of personality.

Early career Li was born and raised in Feng County, Jiangsu. Li began his political career in August 1975, and joined the Chinese Communist Party in February 1985.

In August 1975, Li was appointed as an official in Xuzhou Coal Mining Bureau and over a period of eight years worked his way up to the position of Deputy Secretary of the Communist Youth League of Feng County. He then spent six years serving in various political roles at the Organization Department of CCP Feng County Committee, before serving as CCP Party Chief of Dahe Town.

In December 1998 he was promoted to become the Vice-County Governor of Feng County, a position he held until December 2000. He entered the College of Humanities of Nanjing University of Science and Technology in September 1998 as a part-time student. There he studied political theory; he graduated in November 2000.

17th Party Congress incident He became the Mayor of Pizhou, a county-level city under the jurisdiction of Xuzhou, in December 2000, and then the Communist Party Secretary, the top political position in the city, beginning in December 2002. By 2006, Li further was elevated to the concurrent post of the Vice-Mayor of Xuzhou. including a full "red carpet reception". The fact that such a high-profile ceremony was planned for a county-level official for simply coming back to town after a party congress was ridiculed and heavily criticized online. In response, the city officials responded that the reception ceremony was planned by Pizhou residents; they also pointed out that no other county-level official in Northern Jiangsu had earned the distinction of being a delegate to the Congress.

Leading Pizhou After the incident, Li was dubbed pejoratively by some Chinese-language media as the "Red Carpet Secretary" and the "most niu Secretary" in China (roughly translates to "most kick-ass Secretary").

On February 15, 2017, he was expelled from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and removed from public office. On August 11, he received a sentence of 8 years in prison and fine of 300,000 yuan for taking bribes and abusing his power by the Yangzhou Intermediate People's Court. All his illegal gains will be confiscated and handed over to the State.