On April 7, 2026, Wang Wenling, who served as the Vice Chairman of the National Social Security Fund Council in China for over 10 years, was placed under investigation. The leadership of the National Social Security Fund Council is currently controlled by Liu Kun, a classmate of Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng, and the infighting within the finance system has drawn attention.
According to the website of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection of the Chinese Communist Party on April 7, Wang Wenling, a member of the party group and Vice Chairman of the National Social Security Fund Council, is suspected of “serious violations of discipline and law” and is under investigation.
Public records show that Wang Wenling, 60 years old, is from Shanggao, Jiangxi. Since the 1990s, he has held various positions such as Deputy General Manager of the Financial Development Department of China Everbright International Trust and Investment Company, Director of the Research Office of the Chongqing Municipal Committee, Deputy Director of the Research Office of the Chongqing Municipal Committee, Vice Chairman and General Manager of Chongqing International Trust and Investment Company, and Director of the Regulations and Supervision Department of the National Social Security Fund Council from August 2002 to July 2015. He has been a member of the party group and Vice Chairman of the Social Security Fund Council since 2015.
Prior to being investigated this time, Wang Wenling was the top-ranked Vice Chairman and the longest-serving official in the leadership of the Social Security Fund Council.
The Chinese Communist Party established the Social Security Fund Council in August 2000 to manage and operate the national social security fund. In 2008, it was restructured from being managed by the State Council to being managed by the Ministry of Finance, serving as a fund investment and operation institution without a clearly defined administrative level.
He Lifeng, the Vice Premier in charge of the finance system, is considered one of Xi Jinping’s allies from Fujian, and in recent years, his party members have extended their influence in the economic field. The current Chairman of the Social Fund Council, Liu Kun, is a former classmate of He Lifeng from Xiamen University.
Liu Kun was born in December 1956 in Raoping County, Chaozhou City, Guangdong Province. He became the Deputy Minister of Finance of the Chinese Communist Party in May 2013 and retired from the National People’s Congress when he turned 60 in December 2016. In an unusual move in March 2018 at the age of 62, Liu Kun was appointed Minister of Finance and Party Secretary of the Ministry. On October 24, 2023, at the age of 69, Liu Kun stepped down as the Minister of Finance and was succeeded by Lan Fo’an. However, over a year after stepping down as Minister of Finance, in February last year, the now 70-year-old Liu Kun unexpectedly took on the positions of Secretary of the Party Group and Chairman of the Chinese Social Security Fund Council, which had previously been held by different officials. He even returned to the Ministry of Finance, serving as a member of the Party group.
During Liu Kun’s tenure, Liu Wei was relieved of his position as Chairman of the Social Security Fund Council. Liu Wei, who is 64 years old, is about 4-5 years younger than Liu Kun.
The corruption and dark secrets within the Chinese Communist Party’s social security fund system are deeply-rooted. In 2006, the scandal involving the Shanghai Social Security Fund of Chen Liangyu, former member of the Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party and Secretary of the Shanghai Municipal Committee, caused a sensation.
China is currently facing an increasingly severe aging crisis. A report released by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences on April 10, 2019, titled “China Pension Fund Actuarial Report 2019-2050,” predicts that the accumulated balance of China’s pension fund will be depleted by 2035.
Commentator Li Yanming wrote in the Epoch Times that the corruption and dark secrets of the social security fund are closely related to social crises such as population aging and the financial crisis within the Chinese Communist Party, intertwined with intense infighting among the party’s top echelons. Following the 20th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party, Xi Jinping’s faction, led by He Lifeng, has been seizing key financial and banking positions, highlighting the fierce competition among the top ranks of the Party for control over financial resources.