Luo, who went on to serve as the vice-chairman of the Overseas Chinese Affairs Committee of the National People’s Congress, China’s legislature, “voluntarily turned himself in”, according to the commission. No further details were given.
Luo, 72, a native of northern city of Tianjin, started his career at the Inner Mongolia Production and Construction Corporation in 1969, then returned to Tianjin in 1973, where he rose through the ranks to eventually head the city’s Communist Party propaganda department in 1997, according to public records.
Luo rose to prominence in Hainan where he spent more than 15 years in various senior roles.
In 2001, Luo was promoted to deputy secretary of the party committee in Hainan. He became the provincial governor in 2007 and was appointed as the province’s Communist Party chief in 2011.
Hainan, which is almost the size of Taiwan, has gone through rapid development on its way to becoming a major resort.
While Luo was in power, Hainan invested in building, upgrading and expanding critical civilian infrastructure, including railways, ports and airports – such as Meilan International airport in Haikou city – to boost capacity and connectivity, transforming the island into a strategic and economic hub.
In 2016, Luo led a delegation to Canada and the United States and said Chinese provincial party secretaries should be invited “to lead Communist Party delegations to visit the US annually to enhance dialogue, exchanges, and mutual trust between the two sides”, according to the official Hainan Daily.
Luo stepped down from his role as Hainan’s party secretary in 2017 to serve as the vice-chairman of the Overseas Chinese Affairs Committee of the 12th and 13th National People’s Congress until 2023, according to public records.
