On February 10, 2026, Zhang Jianhua, former deputy director of the Defense Science and Technology Industry Bureau of the Chinese Communist Party (Defense Science and Technology Bureau), was arrested and prosecuted on charges of bribery and accepting bribes by using influence.
During his tenure at the Defense Science and Technology Bureau, Zhang Jianhua served as the deputies of Ma Xingrui and Xu Dazhe. Ma Xingrui, a member of the Communist Party’s Politburo, faced rumors after being removed from his position as secretary of the Party Committee of Xinjiang. Xu Dazhe, former director of the Defense Science and Technology Bureau and secretary of the Hunan Provincial Party Committee, was disqualified as a National People’s Congress delegate on October 28, 2025.
On February 10, 2026, the Supreme People’s Procuratorate of the Chinese Communist Party announced that, following its designation, the Sichuan Provincial Procuratorate had arrested Zhang Jianhua, a former party member and deputy director of the Defense Science and Technology Industry Bureau, on charges of bribery and accepting bribes by using influence. Recently, the prosecution has been filed against him at the Intermediate Court of Dazhou City in Sichuan Province.
Zhang Jianhua was accused of using his positions as director of the military project review center, director of finance and audit department, chief engineer, party member, and deputy director of the Defense Science and Technology Bureau to seek benefits for others. He allegedly used his authority or position to seek improper benefits for others through acts of other state personnel in official roles, and received substantial amounts of illegal gains, leading to charges of bribery and accepting bribes by using influence.
On May 28, 2025, Zhang Jianhua voluntarily surrendered and was under investigation. On October 27, 2025, he was expelled from the Communist Party. Official announcements stated that Zhang Jianhua used his authority to benefit his relatives, manipulated public power for personal gains, facilitated others in project contracting, investment, administrative approvals for profit, and unlawfully accepted large sums of money.
Zhang Jianhua was born in August 1961 in Yixing, Wuxi City, Jiangsu Province. He graduated from Beijing Institute of Technology and has had a long career in the Chinese Communist Party’s military-industrial complex.
From 1983 to 1990, Zhang Jianhua held various positions in the Chinese arms industry, State Machinery Industry Council, and the China North Industries (Group) Corporation. From 1990 to 1998, he served as deputy director and director of the China North Industries Corporation, as well as deputy director of the financial accounting bureau. From 1998 to 2008, he held positions at the China National Defense Science and Technology Industry Commission as deputy director, director of the military project review center, secretary of the Party Committee, and director of the development research center.
In 2008, when the Defense Science and Technology Industry Commission was dissolved, Zhang Jianhua became director and chief engineer of the newly established Defense Science and Technology Industry Bureau. From January 2013, he also served as deputy director and member of the Party Committee of the Defense Science and Technology Bureau, and starting from 2018, he was appointed as deputy director of the National Atomic Energy Agency. In October 2021, he retired due to age.
The Defense Science and Technology Bureau (and its predecessor, the Defense Science and Technology Commission) is responsible for managing China’s defense science and technology industry, coordinating major matters in weapons research and production in fields such as nuclear, aerospace, aviation, shipbuilding, weaponry, and electronics.
From January 2013 to October 2021, Zhang Jianhua served as deputy director and member of the Party Committee of the Defense Science and Technology Bureau for eight years. During this period, he served as the deputy of four consecutive directors of the Defense Science and Technology Bureau: Ma Xingrui (March to December 2013), Xu Dazhe (December 2013 to August 2016), Tang Dengjie (May 2017 to January 2018), and Zhang Kejian (May 2018 to January 2025).
From March 2013 to December 2013, Zhang Jianhua served as Ma Xingrui’s deputy at the Defense Science and Technology Bureau for nearly ten months.
Before that, from 1998 to 2012, Zhang Jianhua held important positions such as director of the military project review center, director of the development research center, and chief engineer at the Defense Science and Technology Commission and the Defense Science and Technology Bureau. Ma Xingrui also had connections with Zhang, having previously held positions such as deputy general manager and general manager of the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation.
According to public reports, on February 2, 2012, the signing ceremony of the strategic cooperation agreement between the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation Fifth Academy and the Tianjin Binhai New Area on large-spacecraft projects, including the space station, was held in Tianjin. High-ranking officials such as Niu Hongguang, vice commander of the General Equipment Department and deputy commander of manned spaceflight, Ma Xingrui, deputy commander of manned spaceflight and general manager of the Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, and Zhang Jianhua, chief engineer of the Defense Science and Technology Bureau, attended the event.
Public information indicates that Ma Xingrui is a native of Shandong Province and a fellow villager of Peng Liyuan, the wife of Chinese Communist Party leader Xi Jinping. Ma has held various positions such as deputy head of Harbin Institute of Technology, deputy director of the China Space Research Institute (China Academy of Space Technology), deputy general manager and general manager of the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation.
After Xi Jinping came to power at the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, Ma Xingrui was promoted and entrusted with important duties. In March 2013, he was appointed vice minister of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, director of the National Space Administration, director of the National Atomic Energy Agency, and director of the Defense Science and Technology Bureau. In November 2013, he was transferred to become Deputy Secretary of the Guangdong Provincial Party Committee and Secretary of the Political and Legal Affairs Committee, and later held positions as Secretary of the Shenzhen Municipal Party Committee and Governor of Guangdong Province. In December 2021, Ma Xingrui was appointed Secretary of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region Party Committee. At the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party in October 2022, Ma Xingrui was promoted to a member of the Political Bureau.
One month after Zhang Jianhua voluntarily surrendered on May 28, 2025, the Chinese authorities announced on July 1, 2025 that Chen Xiaojian, former Executive Deputy Minister of the United Front Work Department of the Communist Party of China, would replace Ma Xingrui as Secretary of Xinjiang, with Ma Xingrui being “employed elsewhere.” However, Ma Xingrui’s new appointment was delayed, sparking various rumors about his involvement in corruption during his tenure in the military-industrial complex and his time governing Guangdong and Xinjiang.
In recent years, there has been a significant cleanup within the military-industrial complex, resulting in the downfall of colleagues and subordinates who worked under Ma Xingrui during his leadership of the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation.
Since the end of November 2025, Ma Xingrui has been absent from important meetings of the Communist Party’s Politburo for “group study,” the Central Economic Work Conference, democratic life meetings of the Political Bureau, and recent gatherings of provincial-level officials.
Meanwhile, senior officials who served under Ma Xingrui in Guangdong and Xinjiang have been purged, including Chen Weijun, Deputy Executive Chairman of the Xinjiang Autonomous Region Government, Li Xu, Deputy Commander of the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, and Dai Beifang, former Chairman of the Shenzhen Political Consultative Conference, all of whom were deputy-ministerial-level officials.
From December 2013 to August 2016, Xu Dazhe succeeded Ma Xingrui as director of the Defense Science and Technology Bureau. During this period, Zhang Jianhua served as Xu Dazhe’s deputy for nearly three years.
Xu Dazhe, born in September 1956 in Liuyang, Hunan, and raised in Nanchang, Jiangxi, comes from a military-industrial background. He has held positions such as director of the First Research Institute of the Ministry of Aerospace Industry and deputy general manager and general manager of the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation. In April 2013, Xu Dazhe took over from Ma Xingrui as chairman of the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation. In December of the same year, he again succeeded Ma Xingrui, this time as Vice Minister of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, Director of the National Space Administration, Director of the National Atomic Energy Agency, and Director of the Defense Science and Technology Bureau.
In August 2016, Xu Dazhe moved to become Deputy Secretary of the Hunan Provincial Party Committee and was appointed Governor of Hunan Province in December. In November 2020, he was promoted to Secretary of the Hunan Provincial Party Committee of the Communist Party of China. Xu Dazhe served as Party Secretary for less than a year before being appointed Deputy Chairperson of the National People’s Congress in October 2021.
Since the end of 2024, Xu Dazhe had been absent from meetings of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress, leading to rumors of his involvement in misconduct. On October 28, 2025, he was disqualified as a National People’s Congress delegate.