In recent years, more than ten senior officials from Hunan province or serving in Hunan have been successively taken down, revealing hidden connections among them. This includes two former subordinates of former CCP Politburo Standing Committee member Wang Qishan – the latest to fall is Zhou Liang, director of the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission, and the former Hubei Provincial Party Secretary Jiang Chaoliang who was investigated a year earlier.
The turbulence in the Hunan political arena is closely related to the power struggles within the top echelons of the CCP. Hunan has produced prominent figures such as former Premier Zhu Rongji, former Secretary of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection He Guoqiang, and current Political Bureau member and Minister of United Front Work Li Ganjie. Vice-ministerial officials from Hunan include former Political Bureau member Zhang Chunxian, current Vice Chairman of the National People’s Congress Zhang Qingwei, and Vice Chairman of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference Zhou Qiang who have all had leadership roles in Hunan.
According to the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and the National Supervisory Commission of the CCP on March 24, 2026, Zhou Liang, a member of the Communist Party Committee and deputy director of the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission, is under investigation for “serious violations of discipline and laws.”
Public information shows that Zhou Liang, born in October 1971 in Yongzhou City, Hunan Province, started serving as Wang Qishan’s secretary in 1997, working alongside him for 20 years.
While Wang Qishan served in various positions in Guangdong Province, the State Council’s Office of Reform and Development, Hainan Province, Beijing Municipality, the State Council, and the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, Zhou Liang followed him closely.
During Wang Qishan’s tenure as a member of the CCP Politburo Standing Committee and Secretary of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, Zhou Liang became the Deputy Secretary-General of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection in 2013, Executive Deputy Minister of the Organizational Department of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection in April 2015, and Minister of the Organizational Department of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection in September of the same year, becoming a key personnel officer under Wang Qishan during his time at the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection.
In November 2017, Zhou Liang was appointed Vice Chairman and Party Committee member of the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission. In March 2018, he assumed the position of Vice Chairman and Party Committee member of the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission. In August of the same year, he also became Vice Chairman of the China Banking Association. In May 2023, he became a member of the Party Committee and Deputy Director of the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission, leading to his recent investigation.
A year earlier, on February 21, 2025, before Jiang Chaoliang, Vice Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress Agricultural and Rural Affairs Committee and former Hubei Provincial Party Secretary, was also a former subordinate of Wang Qishan.
During Xi Jinping’s first term as the leader of the CCP, Wang Qishan served as the Secretary of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection. In March 2023, he retired from the position of Vice President of the country. Several of his former subordinates have been removed from office and harshly sentenced in recent years. Fan Yifei, the former Chief Financial Officer of China Construction Bank during Wang’s tenure, and former Deputy Governor of the People’s Bank of China, was sentenced to death with a reprieve on October 10, 2024. Tian Huiyu, Wang’s former chief secretary and former president of China Merchants Bank, was sentenced to death with a reprieve in February 2024. Dong Hong, another former secretary of Wang and former deputy director of the Central Inspection Team, was sentenced to death for allegedly accepting bribes of 2 billion yuan in January 2022.
Jiang Chaoliang, born in August 1957 in Miluo City, Yueyang, Hunan Province, graduated from the Finance Department of Hunan University of Finance and Economics in 1981. He worked at the China Agricultural Bank before joining the People’s Bank of China in 1996, where he served as the Head of the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone Branch, Guangzhou Branch, and Assistant President.
According to reports, during the Asian financial crisis in 1997, Jiang Chaoliang assisted Wang Qishan, who was then Deputy Provincial Secretary and Vice Governor of the CCP Guangdong Committee, in handling problems in financial institutions while serving at the People’s Bank of China Branches in Shenzhen and Guangzhou. Three years later, after the financial storm subsided, Jiang Chaoliang returned to Beijing and was promoted to Assistant President of the People’s Bank of China.
During Wang Qishan’s tenure as Vice Premier of the State Council of the PRC from March 2008 to March 2013, overseeing finance and commerce, Jiang Chaoliang held important positions within the CCP’s banking system. He was appointed as President of China Development Bank in September 2008, Chairman of Agriculture Bank of China in November 2011, and Secretary of the Party Committee.
Jiang Chaoliang and Zhou Liang, being natives of Hunan, had intersections while serving in Guangdong Province at the end of the last century.
Wang Qishan himself has connections to the Hunan political arena. On May 16, 2017, 64 delegates were elected to the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China in the party’s Hunan Provincial Assembly, among them was Wang Qishan. Later in October 2017, at the 19th National Congress of the CCP, Wang Qishan participated in discussions as part of the Hunan Provincial delegation.
During the same period, Wang Qishan was elected as a delegate to the 13th National People’s Congress from Hunan, serving from March 2018 to March 2023. In the CCP National People’s Congresses from 2018 to 2023, Wang Qishan participated in the deliberations as a member of the Hunan delegation.
According to information available on the website of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and the National Supervisory Commission, from January 2025 to March 24, 2026, a total of 81 central-level cadres were publicly reported to have fallen from grace. At least ten of them were senior officials from Hunan.
In addition to Zhou Liang and Jiang Chaoliang, eight other fallen senior officials from Hunan include:
1. Hu Henghua, Deputy Secretary of the Chongqing Municipal Party Committee and Mayor; taken down on March 20, 2026; born in June 1963 in Hengyang County, Hengyang City, Hunan; formerly served as Mayor of Changsha, Secretary of the Chongqing Municipal Party Committee, Deputy Secretary of the Hunan Provincial Party Committee, and Deputy Secretary of the Shaanxi Provincial Party Committee.
2. Yi Lianhong, Vice Chairman of the 14th National People’s Congress Financial and Economic Affairs Committee and former Secretary of the Zhejiang Provincial Party Committee; taken down on February 10, 2026; born in September 1959 in Lianyuan City, Miluo City, Hunan; formerly served as Deputy Secretary of the Hunan Provincial Party Committee, Secretary of Changsha Municipal Party Committee, Deputy Secretary of the Liaoning Provincial Party Committee, Secretary of Shenyang Municipal Party Committee, Deputy Secretary of the Jiangxi Provincial Party Committee, Governor, and Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee.
3. Guo Xueyi, member of the Party Committee and Vice President of Central South University; taken down on December 27, 2025; born in October 1966 in Wangcheng District, Changsha City, Hunan; professor and doctoral supervisor at Central South University, started serving as a member of the Party Committee and Vice President of Central South University since July 2016.
4. Ye Hongzhuan, former Party Committee member and Deputy Director of the Hunan Provincial People’s Congress Standing Committee; investigated on December 3, 2025; born in June 1958, Tujia nationality, from Longshan County, Xiangxi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture, Hunan Province; formerly served as Deputy Secretary of the Xiangxi Prefectural Party Committee, Governor, and Secretary of the Prefectural Party Committee.
5. Zhang Yaoxue, former member of the Party Committee and President of Central South University; taken down on October 17, 2025; born in January 1956 in Lixian County, Changde City, Hunan; formerly served as Deputy head of the Computer Department at Tsinghua University, Director of the Technology Department of the Ministry of Education of the CCP, Director of the Higher Education Department of the Ministry of Education of the CCP, and President of Central South University from November 2011 to June 2017.
6. Jin Xiangjun, Deputy Secretary of the Shanxi Provincial Party Committee and Governor; taken down on April 12, 2025; born in July 1964 in Jianghua County, Yongzhou City, Hunan; formerly served as Secretary of the Guangxi Fangchenggang Municipal Party Committee, Deputy Mayor of Tianjin, and Deputy Secretary General and Secretary General of Tianjin Municipal Party Committee, and Deputy Secretary of the Shanxi Provincial Party Committee and Governor. Jin Xiangjun and Zhou Liang, who recently fell from grace, are fellow natives of Yongzhou, and both had served in Hainan.
7. Xu Xianping, former member of the Party Committee and Deputy Director of the National Development and Reform Commission; investigated on March 27, 2025; born in October 1954 in Longhui County, Shaoyang City, Hunan; former Vice Secretary of the Changsha Municipal Party Committee, Executive Deputy Mayor, Director of the Hunan Provincial Planning Commission, Deputy Secretary of the Hunan Provincial Party Committee, and Vice Governor of Hunan.
8. Zhou Derui, Standing Committee member of the Tianjin Municipal Party Committee and Minister of Organization; taken down on March 13, 2025; born in February 1966 in Qidong County, Hengyang City, Hunan; formerly served as Standing Committee member of the Yongzhou Municipal Party Committee of Hunan, Minister of Organization, Executive Deputy Mayor, Mayor of Changde City, Secretary of the Municipal Party Committee, and Vice Mayor of Tianjin, Standing Committee member of the Tianjin Municipal Party Committee, and Minister of Propaganda Department.
Additionally, former Hunan Provincial Party Secretary Xu Dazhe has been absent from the National People’s Congress Standing Committee meetings since the end of 2024; rumors circulated that Xu Dazhe was in trouble. On October 28, 2025, Xu Dazhe was stripped of his status as a delegate to the National People’s Congress. His positions as a member of the National People’s Congress Standing Committee and Vice Chairman of the Education, Science, Culture, and Health Committee of the National People’s Congress were consequently revoked.
Xu Dazhe, born in September 1956 in Liuyang City, Hunan, and hailing from the CCP military system, served as the director of the First Institute of the Ministry of Aerospace Industry, Vice General Manager, General Manager, Chairman of the Aerospace Science and Technology Group, Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, concurrent director of the National Aerospace Administration, director of the National Nuclear Agency, Director of the National Defense Science and Technology Bureau; from August 2016 to October 2021, he successively served as the Deputy Secretary, Governor, and Secretary of the Hunan Provincial Party Committee.
On October 9, 2025, Ulan, Secretary of the Party Committees of the Hunan Provincial People’s Congress Standing Committee, and Deputy Director, was also taken down. Ulan, born in November 1962, of the Mongolian nationality from Ke’erqin Zuoqi, Tongliao City, Inner Mongolia, had long been in Inner Mongolia and served as a member of the CCP Inner Mongolian Autonomous Region Standing Committee and Minister of Propaganda, before being transferred to Hunan in October 2016, holding offices as the Deputy Secretary of the Hunan Provincial Party Committee, Vice Chairman of the Provincial Political Consultative Conference, Deputy Director of the Provincial People’s Congress, and other positions.
Many of the fallen high-ranking officials from Hunan or serving in Hunan have close ties among themselves. For instance, Xu Dazhe and Ulan worked together in the Hunan Provincial Committee for five years. Guo Xueyi and Zhang Yaoxue worked together at Central South University for many years; Zhou Derui, having ruled in the hometown of Jin Xiangjun and Zhou Liang in Yongzhou, also worked with Jin Xiangjun in Tianjin. Hu Henghua and Yi Lianhong worked together in Changsha for nearly three years.