From April 8th to 10th, 2026, five high-ranking officials in the Chinese Communist Party’s transportation system were investigated. The CCP’s Ministry of Transport and its subordinate organizations, including the National Postal Administration and the Civil Aviation Administration, are being inspected by the central inspection team.
Li Xiaopeng, a princeling of the CCP, and Yang Chuangtang, a former vice-ministerial official and former Vice Chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, had long been in charge of the Ministry of Transport. Three years ago, the two of them respectively stepped down as Party Secretary and Minister of the Ministry of Transport. Following their departure, the Party Committee of the National Railway Administration was inspected, leading to the downfall of its director, Fei Dongbin, and other senior officials.
On April 10th, 2026, the website of the CCP Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and the National Supervision Commission reported that Wang Shaocheng, former director of the Transportation Department in Dalian, Liaoning Province, Sun Weiliang, General Manager of the Henan Provincial Railway Construction Investment Group, and Ma Baofu, former deputy department-level official in Guoyuan City, Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, are under investigation for “serious violations of discipline and law.”
According to publicly available information, all three individuals had long careers in the transportation system. Wang Shaocheng, born in May 1964, had held positions such as deputy director and member of the Party Committee of the Transport Bureau in Dalian, director of the Dalian Transport Bureau, Party Secretary and Director of the Dalian Transportation Bureau.
Sun Weiliang, born in May 1975, with a master’s degree in engineering and senior engineer qualifications, started serving as Deputy General Manager of the Henan Provincial Railway Construction Investment Group Co., Ltd. in December 2021, and was promoted to General Manager and Deputy Chairman of the Group in March 2024. During his tenure, he promoted the construction projects of Pingtai-Luohe high-speed railway and Zhoukou Central Port Railway Special Line.
Ma Baofu, a member of the Hui ethnic group, born in June 1962 in Pengyang, Ningxia, had previously served as director of Jingyuan County Transportation Bureau in Ningxia, deputy director of the Guoyuan City Transportation Bureau, Deputy Director of the Traffic Preparedness Office, Party Secretary and Director of the Guoyuan City Transportation Bureau, Director of the Traffic Preparedness Office.
In addition, Xian Xiong, former deputy director of the Sichuan Provincial Transportation Department, was investigated on April 9th, 2026. Xian Xiong, born in April 1955 in Bazhong, Sichuan, had a long career within the transportation system in various capacities.
Peng Hong, a female born in April 1961 in Chongqing and a former member of the Party Committee of the Sichuan Provincial Transportation Investment Group, was also investigated on April 8th, 2026.
Peng Hong had held various positions within the transportation system, including General Manager of Chengdu Airport Expressway Company from 1998 to 2021. She had also served as Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee and General Manager of Chengnan Expressway Co., Ltd., the Party Secretary, Chairman, and General Manager of the Board of Directors of Sichuan Transportation Investment Group Co., Ltd., among other roles.
Furthermore, Zhang Yin, former Party Secretary and Director of the Guizhou Provincial Transportation Department, was investigated on March 27th, 2026. Zhang Yin, a Yi ethnicity female born in January 1972, had a career spanning various roles within the transportation system in Guizhou province.
According to the official website of the CCP’s Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and National Supervision Commission, on April 8th, 2026, CCP Political Bureau Standing Committee member and head of the Central Inspection Work Leading Group, Li Xi, attended the National Inspection Work Conference and the mobilization deployment meeting for the seventh round of inspections of the 20th Central Committee and delivered a speech. The seventh round of inspections will cover 36 party organizations, including the Ministry of Transport and its affiliated organizations such as the National Postal Administration and the Civil Aviation Administration.
Publicly available information indicates that the Ministry of Transport of the CCP is a ministerial-level department responsible for the administrative management affairs of railways, highways, water transportation, ports, urban passenger transport, and civil aviation. It oversees sub-organizations such as the National Railway Administration, the Civil Aviation Administration of China, and the National Postal Administration.
Following the 18th National Congress of the CCP, Yang Chuangtang began serving as Party Secretary and Minister of the Ministry of Transport in August 2012. He stepped down as Minister in September 2016 but retained his position as Party Secretary until May 2023, overseeing the Ministry of Transport for over a decade.
Yang Chuangtang, born in May 1954 in Yucheng, Shandong Province, had a long and varied career in various party and government positions before his tenure at the Ministry of Transport.
In March 2018, Yang Chuangtang was appointed as a Vice Chairman of the 13th National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, earning a vice-ministerial rank, while continuing to serve as Party Secretary of the Ministry of Transport.
During the CCP’s two sessions in March 2022, Yang Chuangtang, who was then a Vice Chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, was notably absent, prompting speculation. Prior to that, Yang Chuangtang had been out of the public eye since July 2021, missing not only meetings of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference but also the CCP’s 19th Sixth Plenum held from November 8th to 11th, 2022.
The Ministry of Transport’s website indicates that since June 24, 2021, the Party Committee meetings of the Ministry of Transport have been presided over by the Minister of Transport, Li Xiaopeng, who also served as the Deputy Party Secretary of the Ministry of Transport.
During the CCP’s two sessions in March 2023, 69-year-old Yang Chuangtang was seen at the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, not being reappointed as Vice Chairman. On May 10th, 2023, he resigned as Party Secretary of the Ministry of Transport.
Li Xiaopeng succeeded Yang Chuangtang as Minister of the Ministry of Transport in September 2016, holding the position until November 2024. During his tenure, in May 2023, Li Xiaopeng took over as Party Secretary of the Ministry of Transport before stepping down in September 2024. Liu Wei, the Deputy Secretary of the Beijing Municipal Party Committee, succeeded Li Xiaopeng as Party Secretary and Minister of the Ministry of Transport.
Li Xiaopeng, born in June 1959, the eldest son of former CCP Premier Li Peng, had a career in the power sector before his political appointments. He served as General Manager and Party Secretary of China Huadian Corporation. In 2008, he became the Vice Governor and later Governor of Shanxi Province. In 2016, Li Xiaopeng became Minister of the Ministry of Transport. Shortly before stepping down as Minister of the Ministry of Transport, Li Xiaopeng was appointed as the Vice Chairman of the Economic Committee of the 14th National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference on October 11, 2024.
Following Yang Chuangtang’s resignation as Party Secretary of the Ministry of Transport and Li Xiaopeng’s departure, from late October to mid-December 2023, the fifth inspection team of the Second Round of Inspections of the 20th Central Committee conducted a “look back” inspection of the Party Committees of the National Railway Administration and the China Railway Group.
Subsequently, senior executives from the CCP’s railway system were investigated successively, including Xiong Chungeng, former Party Secretary and Chairman of the Board of Directors of China Railway Nanchang Group Co., Ltd., Wang Lijuan, former Deputy Director of Beijing Railway Bureau and Party Secretary of Beijing Station, Zhaohonggang, former Deputy Director of Wuhan Railway Bureau, among others.
On June 12, 2025, Fei Dongbin, Member of the Party Committee of the Ministry of Transport of the CCP and Party Secretary and Director of the National Railway Administration, was investigated.
Fei Dongbin, born in August 1970 in Jinzhou, Liaoning, held various managerial positions in multiple city railway bureaus since October 2005. He later served as Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee in Hohhot City, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, and held several other positions before joining the Ministry of Transport of the CCP in September 2022 as a member of the Party Committee and Party Secretary of the National Railway Administration. In October 2022, he was appointed as Director of the Railways Administration.