The former vice chairman of the Finance and Economy Committee of the 14th National People’s Congress of the Chinese Communist Party and former Secretary of the Zhejiang Provincial Party Committee, Yi Lianhong, was placed under investigation yesterday (February 10th). Chinese media revealed the corruption within Yi Lianhong’s family, particularly focusing on his son Yi Shiwei, who is considered one of the “Seven Young Masters of Hunan” for his extravagant lifestyle. Rumors have long linked the “Seven Young Masters of Hunan” with the case of Liu Wenjie, former director of the Hunan Provincial Department of Finance, who fell from a building.
According to the Economic Observer on February 10th, numerous sources in official circles disclosed that Yi Lianhong was taken away for investigation in Changsha on February 7th, along with several of his family members. In late January, Xiaoyujun, a real estate developer from Liuyuan, Hunan, who has close ties to Yi Lianhong’s family, was also detained.
Public records show that Yi Lianhong, originally from Liuyuan, Loudi, Hunan, had previously worked at the Hunan Provincial Party School and served as the Deputy Principal in July 2000. In May 2004, he was transferred to local government positions and became the Secretary of the Yueyang City Party Committee in Hunan. In November 2011, he rose to become a member of the Hunan Provincial Party Committee, with the rank of deputy provincial level, and concurrently served as the Secretary-General of the Hunan Provincial Party Committee the following month. In May 2013, Yi Lianhong was appointed as a member of the Hunan Provincial Party Committee and the Secretary of the Changsha City Party Committee.
Over the next five years, Yi Lianhong held positions in three different provinces: in July 2017, he was appointed as a member of the Liaoning Provincial Party Committee and the Secretary of the Shenyang City Party Committee, followed by a promotion to Deputy Secretary of the Liaoning Provincial Party Committee and the Secretary of the Shenyang City Party Committee in May 2018. In August 2018, Yi Lianhong assumed the roles of Deputy Secretary of the Jiangxi Provincial Party Committee and Governor of Jiangxi Province, reaching a full provincial level. Yi Lianhong later became the Secretary of the Jiangxi Provincial Party Committee in October 2021. In December 2022, he was transferred to become the Secretary of the Zhejiang Provincial Party Committee. In November 2024, the 65-year-old Yi Lianhong stepped down from his position in Zhejiang and became the Vice Chairman of the Finance and Economy Committee of the National People’s Congress.
Informants claimed that during his tenure as Secretary of the Changsha City Party Committee, Yi Lianhong excessively promoted his cronies, indulged his family members, while ostracizing colleagues and suppressing dissenters. It is alleged that Yi Lianhong’s son, Yi Shiwei, previously worked for a state-owned financial enterprise in Hunan. Known for his flamboyant lifestyle, Yi Shiwei was perceived as one of the “Seven Young Masters of Hunan” due to his extravagant spending habits and connections leveraging his father’s influence to secure projects, from which he allegedly received bonuses exceeding tens of millions of yuan.
Insiders revealed that several members of Yi Lianhong’s family also engaged in dubious money-making activities, while Yi Lianhong himself had close ties to businessmen, such as Xiaoyujun from Liuyuan.
Xiaoyujun’s company primarily focused on real estate development and infrastructure investments, making him a prominent developer in Hunan. His close relationship with Yi Lianhong came under scrutiny when Xiaoyujun was taken in for questioning around January 26th.
Prior to this, there were rumors circulating online concerning the involvement of the “Seven Young Masters of Hunan” in the case of Liu Wenjie, the former director of the Hunan Provincial Department of Finance.
On September 19, 2024, Liu Wenjie, along with two businessmen (the Jiang brothers), fell to their deaths from the 13th floor. While official reports labeled it as a “homicide,” public skepticism pointed towards economic disputes as the underlying cause. It was reported that Liu Wenjie had guaranteed billions in private loans, with a significant portion of the funds flowing to the “Seven Young Masters of Hunan.”
According to rumors, the individuals implicated as part of the “Seven Young Masters” and their parents include: Yi Shiwei, the son of Yi Lianhong (former Secretary of the Zhejiang Provincial Party Committee, fallen from grace in February 2026), considered the leader of the group; Yi Pengfei, the son of a former Deputy Chairman of the Hunan Provincial Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, sentenced to life imprisonment in 2024; Li Weiwei, the son of a former Chairman of the Hunan Provincial Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference who also fell from power in July 2024, and her ex-husband; Huang Lanxiang, the son of a former Deputy Chairman of the Hunan Provincial Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference; Meke Bao, the son of a former Deputy Secretary of the Hunan Provincial Party Committee, who also served as the Deputy Director of the National Administration for Quality Supervision, Inspection, and Quarantine; and Hu Henghua, the son of the current Mayor of Chongqing, who previously served as the Secretary of the Changsha City Party Committee.
Shortly after Liu Wenjie’s death, Yi Lianhong resigned from his position as the Secretary of the Zhejiang Provincial Party Committee.
Senior commentator Cai Shunkun mentioned on social media X that when Zhou Qiang, the former President of the Supreme People’s Court, served as the Secretary of the Hunan Provincial Party Committee, Yi Lianhong acted as the Secretary-General of the Provincial Party Committee, playing a significant role under Zhou Qiang’s leadership. His transfer to Zhejiang as the Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee after the 20th National Congress was seen as a potential elevation in career. The crisis involving him came after the “Seven Young Masters of Hunan” incident, where the parents of the Seven Young Masters, all high-ranking officials from Hunan province, interfered in major projects and important personnel matters in Hunan. They even established a covert high-level think tank, contacting hundreds of provincial-level officials, leading to almost all of those implicated becoming targets in the anti-corruption campaign.