Take the director of Chengdu Education Bureau as an example, whose administrative level is deputy department level. If you want to embark on the official career of the mayor of Chengdu (deputy provincial and ministerial level), the common way is:

Director of Chengdu Education-Deputy Secretary-General of Chengdu Municipal Committee-Mayor of Neijiang City (or other prefecture-level cities in the province)-Mayor of Mianyang City (or other important prefecture-level cities in the province)-Secretary of Mianyang City (or other important prefecture-level cities in the province)-Mayor of Chengdu.

It will take at least eight years to go that way.

Ge Honglin, Deputy Secretary of Chengdu Municipal Committee and Mayor.