A high-ranking official of the Chinese Communist Party being absent from important occasions is often seen as a precursor to a downfall. On January 29th, Wang Xiangxi, the Minister of the Emergency Management Department of the CCP, was unexpectedly absent from a video conference on safety production in central state-owned enterprises, sparking widespread speculation online that he has been taken away for investigation.
The State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council and the Emergency Management Department of the CCP jointly held a video conference on safety production in central enterprises on January 29th. Official media reports indicated that Zhang Yuzhuo, Secretary of the CCP Committee and Director of the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission, and Song Yuanming, Deputy Director of the State Council’s Work Safety Committee and Deputy Minister of the Emergency Management Department, attended the meeting and delivered speeches.
However, Wang Xiangxi, the Minister of the Emergency Management Department of the CCP, was notably absent from the meeting that he was supposed to attend.
In the official scripts of the past two years’ January video conferences on safety production in central state-owned enterprises, there have always been mentions of “Wang Xiangxi, Deputy Director of the State Council’s Work Safety Committee and Minister of the Emergency Management Department,” attending the meetings.
Investigative journalist Li Weiao, who frequently releases news from the CCP officialdom, posted on Weibo yesterday (January 30th): “The minister is missing, and the meeting that was scheduled to take place was changed urgently half an hour before it started,” sparking discussions among netizens, some of whom mentioned the Minister of the Emergency Management Department.
Several Chinese netizens shared Wang Xiangxi’s resume on Weibo, suggesting that he may have been removed from his position. On an overseas platform, there are multiple posts indicating that Wang Xiangxi is under investigation.
According to the official website of the Emergency Management Department of the CCP, on January 27th, the CCP Party Committee of the Emergency Management Department held the “Democratic Life Meeting” for the year 2025, where Wang Xiangxi chaired the meeting and delivered concluding remarks.
Born in 1962, Wang Xiangxi has had a long career in the coal system, starting his career in Hubei Province. In June 2017, he was promoted to become a member of the Standing Committee of the CCP Hubei Provincial Committee, and in July the same year, he became the Secretary of the Political and Legal Committee of the provincial committee. In March 2019, he was appointed as the Chairman and Party Secretary of the State Energy Investment Group. In July 2022, he was promoted to Secretary of the CCP Party Committee of the Emergency Management Department. In August of the same year, he also took on the role of Deputy Director and Office Director of the State Council’s Work Safety Committee. In September of the same year, he became the Minister of the Emergency Management Department. On January 6, 2023, he also assumed the position of the First Political Commissar of the National Fire and Rescue Bureau. He is a member of the 20th Central Committee of the CCP.