Students welcome social media account of RUC's Party secretary

A user named "RUC Gangzi" posted twice on the social platform Xiaohongshu on Saturday, attracting widespread attention among students of Renmin University of China in Beijing and netizens as the account is believed to belong to Zhang Donggang, the university's Party secretary.

The incident quickly became a hot topic online as it is rare for university administrators to have an online presence in China. "Gangzi" is an affectionate nickname used by students to refer to secretary Zhang as his name includes the Chinese character Gang.

In the comments section, many students left messages about campus governance issues, while others questioned whether the account was genuinely operated by Zhang himself.

On Sunday morning, the officially verified account of Renmin University of China published a post on WeChat titled "Have you followed Gangzi secretary today?", confirming that the Xiaohongshu account RUC Gangzi is indeed the personal account of Zhang.

The account had already garnered 42,000 followers as of Monday morning.

The account's first comment after being established read: "Greetings to all the lovely students."

From earlier replies, it appears that Zhang had been active on Xiaohongshu for some time before revealing his identity. In one instance, when a student posted a photo of him, he humorously replied: "This one is too ugly — Gangzi replies."

In the comments section, students raised various concerns, such as the lack of fruit and bread in the cafeteria at the university's campus in Beijing's Tongzhou district, the need for shuttle buses between campuses, and the expansion of the campus in Suzhou, Jiangsu province. Zhang responded to each of these suggestions individually.

Many students expressed that seeing "Gangzi" on Xiaohongshu felt refreshing and relatable. One student said: "Previously, we had to rely on emails or other formal channels to communicate with university leaders about campus issues. Now we can leave comments directly on Xiaohongshu — it's amazing. We really appreciate this down-to-earth approach."