Since coming to power at the 18th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party in 2012, Xi Jinping has been aggressively consolidating power. His loyalists, known as the “Xi family army,” have taken over important positions in the party, government, and military following the 20th National Congress of the CCP. However, serious infighting has erupted within the Xi family army. There have been three secret deals between Xi and the Jiang faction regarding power around Xi, with a fourth deal currently in progress. However, this fourth deal may bring bad luck to Xi.
On April 19th, independent commentator Du Zheng disclosed in an article in Taiwan’s Up Media that since the era of Deng Xiaoping, the CCP has been playing a trick of designating successors from alternate generations. This practice is not only necessary for power struggles but also crucial for securing family interests. Designating successors from alternate generations can ensure the protection of the leaders’ family interests for at least the next two generations. For example, Deng Xiaoping designated Hu Jintao from an alternate generation, Jiang Zemin designated Xi Jinping from an alternate generation, and Hu Jintao designated Hu Chunhua from an alternate generation. However, in order to prolong his rule, Xi Jinping directly sidelined Hu Chunhua.
Du Zheng’s article stated that Jiang Zemin’s designation of Xi Jinping as his successor from an alternate generation was actually quite secretive. An article in the Moutai Wine News on June 30, 2005, revealed that on June 20, 2005, Xi Jinping, who was then the Communist Party Secretary of Zhejiang Province, met with and hosted a banquet for Maotai Group Chairman Ji Keliang, General Manager Yuan Renguo, and others at the West Lake State Guesthouse. Xi confessed during the meeting that he particularly enjoyed Maotai liquor, and in 2004, he even used an 80-year-old Maotai liquor to entertain Jiang Zemin and his wife. According to local official media reports, Jiang Zemin had visited Zhejiang for the seventh time from July 21-23, 2004.
Xi Jinping directly jumped from a Central Committee member to a member of the Political Bureau Standing Committee at the 17th National Congress of the CCP in 2007. The article stated that Jiang Zemin did not step down as Chairman of the Central Military Commission until September 2004, and his visit to Zhejiang before stepping down was to personally inspect Xi Jinping and designate Xi as the future General Secretary of the CCP after Hu Jintao. “The key condition for Xi to be designated as the successor from an alternate generation was to protect the interests of the Jiang family after taking office.”
This was the first deal between Xi and Jiang. Xi Jinping thus believes that his source of power comes from Jiang Zemin (note, not the Chinese people), which is also why he declared his intention to “inherit the legacy” after Jiang Zemin’s death.
After taking office, Xi Jinping launched an anti-corruption campaign under the guise of saving the party during his first term, bringing down figures from the Jiang faction such as Zhou Yongkang, Xu Caihou, and Guo Boxiong. There was indeed an apparent intention to settle the Jiang Zemin-led “corrupt headquarters,” but Du Zheng stated in the article that this was merely a facade. This was primarily because touching Jiang Zemin, although beneficial to the nation and the people, would be equivalent to deleting Jiang’s “Three Represents” from the party constitution, which would be too significant an action and could potentially lead to the party’s demise. Xi chose to protect the party, made another deal with Jiang Zemin, allowed the “tiger hunter” Wang Qishan to step back, and received support from the Jiang faction to abolish term limits in 2018, enabling Xi to remain in power for life.
In addition, in November 2021, tennis star Peng Shuai publicly accused former Jiang faction member Zhang Gaoli of sexual assault. However, the incident ended with Peng Shuai being silenced, and Zhang Gaoli faced no repercussions, which was also one of the results of the deal to support Xi’s constitutional amendment by the Jiang faction.
By the time of the 20th National Congress of the CCP in 2022, Xi and the Jiang faction engaged in a third deal. Xi Jinping was smoothly re-elected as General Secretary, Xi’s loyalists assumed top positions, and figures aligned with Li Keqiang and Wang Yang from the faction were ousted. There was even an incident during the closing ceremony where Hu Jintao was escorted out of the venue, and Hu Chunhua, the designated successor of Hu Jintao from an alternate generation, was removed from the Politburo, officially purging the faction from the power center.
Du Zheng pointed out that behind this move was the collaboration between the Jiang faction and Xi.
After the 20th National Congress, officials with backgrounds in the Jiang faction continued to occupy high positions, including Wang Huning and Zhao Leji, who remained members of the Political Bureau Standing Committee of the 20th Congress, and Han Zheng, who remained Vice President of the country.
Following the 20th National Congress, the Xi family army faced severe infighting. For example, after Central Military Commission Vice Chairman Zhang Youxia defeated another Vice Chairman He Weidong, Zhang himself was also taken down, and Li Xi, the Secretary of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, targeted Ma Xingrui, a former deputy when Li was in power in Guangdong. However, during this period, the princelings of the Jiang faction quietly “captured cities” economically.
Since 2025, Jiang Zemin’s grandson, Jiang Zhicheng, has invested heavily in the Chinese market. Apart from forming a joint venture with Starbucks to operate in the Chinese market, where he holds up to 60% of the shares, he also acquired around 42-45% of the shares of Beijing SKP (a high-end department store); participated in investments like Heytea, CATL, Hengrui Medicine, and controlled Jinko Services among others. Another princeling of the Jiang faction, Liu Leifei, the son of Liu Yunshan, a former member of the Political Bureau Standing Committee and identified with the Jiang faction, controls CPE Source Peak, a Chinese private equity company, which holds around 83% of the shares of Burger King China.
Du Zheng mentioned that behind the Jiang faction’s takeover of the financial sector and internet industry in the past, there were rumored astonishing political ambitions. Quietly intertwined behind their collaboration was a little-known ambitious plan—to strategically position themselves in core industries such as the internet and finance so that in times of turmoil, they could quickly elevate their own people to the top of the political arena and take over the CCP regime.
Du Zheng believes that after the 20th National Congress of the CCP, the princelings of the Jiang faction are once again active in the economic field. Apart from their privileged backgrounds, their protection comes from high-level political transactions, allowing them to have more freedom of movement.
During the thorough cleansing of the party, government, and military in recent years, the investigation has even touched on Jiang Zemin’s eldest son, namely Jiang Zhiheng, the father of Jiang Zhicheng. However, Xi is unlikely to take real action against him.
Jiang Zhiheng served as Vice President of the Chinese Academy of Sciences from November 1999 until November 2011. Due to his father’s influence, despite lacking a background in aerospace, Jiang Zhiheng became involved in the aerospace industry. Many fallen high-ranking officials from aerospace backgrounds, such as Politburo members Ma Xingrui and Zhu Zhisong, a member of the Shanghai Municipal Committee and Party Secretary of Pudong New Area at the time, were close confidants of Jiang Zhiheng.
Du Zheng stated that Xi Jinping has removed many individuals he had promoted over the past three years, despite his attempts to explain it as conducting a “self-revolution.” The more extensive the purge, the more Xi falls into a ruling crisis of having power without authority. Against this backdrop, Xi Jinping may need to make a fourth political deal with the Jiang family to ensure his re-election next year at the 21st National Congress. He may leverage Jiang Zemin’s centenary to play his final card, “boosting Jiang to safeguard Xi.”
The CCP has announced that the Mao Zedong Memorial Hall in Beijing will undergo internal renovations from March 16 to August 31, suspending public access during this period. Speculations suggest that the renovation of the Mao Memorial Hall may include adding Jiang Zemin’s presence alongside the previous memorials of Mao Zedong, Zhou Enlai, Liu Shaoqi, Zhu De, Deng Xiaoping, and Chen Yun, serving the political purpose of “elevating Jiang to safeguard Xi.”
However, Du Zheng believes that amidst the high political pressure and economic downturn in China, with brewing public grievances and sky-high resentment within official circles during the crackdown, Xi’s attempt to gain courage from the deceased will not bode well. As Jiang’s reputation is not favorable, raising Jiang’s banner will only bring misfortune to Xi.