Recently, online attention has been drawn to a post claiming that the Ningxia Catering and Hotel Association has 89 "vice presidents." According to the online post, the association's leadership election results published in April 2025 listed one president, ten executive vice presidents, and 28 vice presidents, with an additional 42 vice presidents being co-opted. Subsequently, during the association's third session second plenary meeting on January 9, 2026, another nine vice presidents were added. This total of 89 "vice presidents" did not even include the ten "honorary vice presidents."
On January 15, a reporter contacted the association's Secretary-General, Li Long, who stated that the figure of 89 "vice presidents" was due to a staff error, as individuals who had already stepped down from their positions were not removed from the list. Regarding the number that still exceeds regulations after the removal of these individuals, the association will implement adjustment measures, including "persuading members to resign."
The number of "vice presidents" far exceeds the stipulated limit. According to the "Model Articles of Association for Industry Associations and Chambers of Commerce of Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region" issued by the Ningxia Civil Affairs Department, an association's "responsible persons refer to one president, several vice presidents, and one secretary-general," and furthermore, the "total number of responsible persons shall be no fewer than five and no more than forty, and must be an odd number."
When measured against this regulation, even by the most conservative calculation, the number of responsible persons in the Ningxia Catering and Hotel Association significantly surpasses the standard. If one counts the president, the ten executive vice presidents, the secretary-general, the 28 vice presidents, the 42 co-opted vice presidents, plus the nine additional vice presidents added in January 2026, the total number of responsible persons reaches 91.
In response to the质疑, Ningxia Catering and Hotel Association Secretary-General Li Long stated that the widely circulated data of "89 vice presidents" is "incorrect," and the actual number of responsible persons is 53. Li Long explained that the discrepancy stems from three main factors: firstly, the inclusion of "specially invited vice presidents" who do not actually participate in association affairs; secondly, the existence of positions such as honorary vice presidents; and thirdly, a staff error where a list of 29 former vice presidents who had already left their posts was not removed from the publicly released roster on the official social media account.
"The staff managing the official account were a third-party service; it was a third party managing our account at the time, and they failed to extract the correct list. This was indeed our operational mistake," Li Long said.
The association responded that it will make adjustments in accordance with the regulations. Li Long further explained that the association had previously been operating under an old management document for non-governmental organizations, which allowed for responsible persons to be generated based on a proportion of one-third of the membership base. However, the "Association Management Regulations" promulgated in 2022 explicitly require that the "number of responsible persons shall not exceed 40." As the association did not promptly obtain this new regulation in 2022, coupled with the loss of documents during the leadership transition, operations continued under the old rules.
Li Long indicated that the association is currently discussing a rectification plan with departments such as the Department of Commerce and the Civil Affairs Department. According to the new regulations, the number of responsible persons in the association must be controlled within 40. The current count of 53 actual vice presidents means that at least 18 vice presidents will need to be persuaded to step down. "The process of persuading members to resign is very complex," Li Long expressed, "You were originally a vice president, and now you are being removed due to the new regulations, which requires careful explanation." The association plans to hold a press conference to publicly address the matter and accept supervision. Li Long承诺: "We will correct our mistakes and welcome oversight."
Comments