The State Council on Tuesday officially removed Zhang Xiaoming as a deputy director of the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office.

This comes after Zhang, 58, was appointed a deputy secretary-general of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference on June 22.

The two posts are at the same rank, and Zhang will now be tasked with coordinating a “united front” in China.

Zhang was named director of Beijing's liaison office in Hong Kong in 2012, and was promoted to head of the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office in 2017.

However, he was demoted to a deputy position in 2020 following the social unrest in the SAR.