Liu Yunshan
Huang became an alternate member of the 18th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party held in the fall of 2012. In October 2013, he was named deputy head of the Central Publicity Department. In December 2014, he was promoted to executive deputy head, with rank equivalent to that of a minister. The executive deputy head position of the Publicity Department is a powerful one, as it oversees roughly all day-to-day administrative aspects of the department. External observers have called Huang's installation in the position as a means to check the influence of Liu Yunshan, a member of the party's top ruling body the Politburo Standing Committee who is widely believed to be a conservative. Huang was also named chief of the Office of the Central Guidance Commission on Building Spiritual Civilization.