High-ranking officials connected to the Chinese Communist Party Politburo member Ma Xingrui are being gradually implicated. Gao Shiwen, the mayor of Nanchang, the capital of Jiangxi Province, who has long served in the aerospace system, was absent from an important meeting that he customarily attends. While Ma Xingrui was working at the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, Gao Shiwen, who is also from Shandong Province, served as his secretary for an extended period. Online rumors suggest that Gao Shiwen has fallen from grace.
According to official reports from Nanchang, on February 4th, a “Strategic Implementation of the Provincial Capital Leading Work Fourth Work Promotion Meeting” was held, attended by Li Hongjun, Deputy Secretary of the Jiangxi Provincial People’s Congress Standing Committee and Secretary of the Nanchang Municipal Committee of the Communist Party of China, Wang Qianhu, Party Secretary and Director of the Development and Reform Commission of Jiangxi Province, and Zhao Jie, member of the Standing Committee of the Nanchang Municipal Committee of the Communist Party of China and Deputy Mayor. Gao Shiwen’s name did not appear in the official announcement.
In the past, he had attended similar meetings three times in March, May, and September of last year, giving speeches on each occasion.
Gao Shiwen’s most recent public activity was on February 2nd this year when he chaired a meeting on the so-called “Rule of Law in the City” organized by the Nanchang Municipal Committee of the Communist Party of China.
His public resume indicates that Gao Shiwen, a 52-year-old native of Qingzhou, Shandong Province, entered the aerospace system after graduating from university in 1997, accumulating nearly 20 years of experience. While Ma Xingrui, also from Shandong, served as the General Manager of the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation from 2007 to 2013, Gao Shiwen held various positions during that time, including Deputy Secretary of the Office, Deputy Director and Secretary of the General Manager’s Office, and Director of the General Manager’s Office.
Ma Xingrui left the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation in 2013, and Gao Shiwen was promoted to Vice President of China Aerospace International Holdings Limited in 2014, later serving as Vice President of China Aerospace International Holdings Limited and Chairman of Hainan Aerospace Investment Management Co., Ltd. In 2016, Gao Shiwen was appointed Deputy Mayor of Ganzhou City, Jiangxi Province, and then Mayor of Nanchang in 2024.
On February 4th, overseas platform X has revealed that Gao Shiwen, Deputy Secretary of the Nanchang Municipal Committee and Mayor, has been “invited for tea” (meaning detained for questioning); netizens on Weibo have also shared Gao Shimin’s resume, hinting at his downfall.
It is important to note that Australian self-media person Jiang Wang revealed at the end of last year that Ma Xingrui’s case is being handled by Liu Jinguo, the Deputy Secretary of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, ranked first; Li Xi, Secretary of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, and his family are implicated in the Ma Xingrui case. During his four years in Xinjiang, Ma Xingrui was in contact with construction funds worth 3.3 trillion yuan (RMB, the same below), of which he pocketed 100 billion yuan. However, Ma Xingrui did not keep it all to himself but distributed it to Li Xi and Peng Liyuan. Ma Xingrui’s wife, Li Xi’s wife, and Gao Shiwen’s wife, Deputy Secretary (Mayor) of Nanchang, bought whole buildings in Hong Kong and purchased gas stations and land overseas.
However, this information cannot be confirmed at present.
Ma Xingrui stepped down as the Secretary of the Xinjiang Regional Committee of the Chinese Communist Party in July last year, with officials stating that he has been “appointed to another position,” but he has not been assigned a new role and currently retains only his position as a member of the Political Bureau without real power. Ma Xingrui has recently been absent from several important events, fueling rumors of trouble.
Recently, several of his former subordinates in Guangdong and Xinjiang, where Ma Xingrui previously worked, have been implicated, either falling from grace or being demoted.
Since Ma Xingrui left Xinjiang in July last year, several of his former subordinates have either fallen from grace or died mysteriously: on October 13th of the same year, Liu Chen, Deputy Secretary of the Political and Legal Committee of Xinjiang, was under investigation; on November 1st, Jin Zhizhen, Vice Chairman of the Xinjiang Political Consultative Conference, was taken down; on November 3rd, Jiang Xinjun, Secretary of the Discipline Inspection Commission and Director of the Supervisory Committee of the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, died suddenly; on November 10th, Ma Zhijun, Deputy Secretary of the Urumqi Municipal Committee and Secretary of the Political and Legal Committee, fell from grace; on November 30th, Chen Weijun, Vice Chairman of the Xinjiang Government, was investigated.
Gui Guo Yungang, former Secretary of the Guangzhou Municipal Committee during Ma Xingrui’s time in Shenzhen, was relieved of his duties as a member of the Standing Committee of the Guangdong Provincial Party Committee and Secretary of the Guangzhou Municipal Committee in December last year. On January 28th of this year, he was appointed Vice Chairman of the Guangdong Provincial Political Consultative Conference. Although the role in the political consultative conference is considered a retirement-type position, analysts point out that Gui Yungang’s move from a substantive party government role to the second line does not necessarily mean a safe landing.
Professor Zhang Zhizhong of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences at Taiwan’s Kainan University stated in an interview with Lianhe Zaobao that Ma Xingrui’s situation does not look good, and he believes that there should be a conclusion before the “Two Sessions” in March.