Beijing has appointed Yuan Gujie, a senior Guangdong province official who vowed to further connect rules in the Greater Bay Area, as a deputy director of its liaison office in Hong Kong.

The state-run Xinhua News Agency announced on Monday that Yuan, 58, had succeeded diplomat Liu Guangyuan, who is expected to retire at age 61.

The liaison office’s top leadership includes director Zhou Ji and four deputies.

Yuan headed the provincial Political and Legal Affairs Commission and also served as a member of the Standing Committee of the Guangdong Provincial Committee and as an alternate member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China before being posted to Hong Kong.

She has a legal background and spent her career in Guangdong. She graduated with a law degree from Sun Yat-sen University in 1988 and earned a PhD in international law from Peking University law school in 1997.

Yuan then served as dean of the school of law at South China Normal University from 2004 to 2006. Her research interests include international law, civil and commercial law, and sports law.

Yuan has also served in various other roles in Guangdong, including deputy head of the provincial United Front Work Department and party secretary of Maoming city.