Former Party Secretary and Chairman of the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps Construction Engineering (Group) Co., Ltd., Xia Jianguo, has been taken down. Following the removal of former Xinjiang Party Secretary Ma Xingrui in July last year, the officialdom in Xinjiang has been turbulent, with officials falling one after another.
The Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and the National Supervisory Commission of the Communist Party of China announced on April 24 that Xia Jianguo is currently undergoing disciplinary review and supervision investigation by the Discipline Inspection Commission and Supervisory Commission of the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps.
Established in 1954, the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps (XPCC) is the last existing production and construction corps of the Communist Party of China and operates as a unique organization integrating military, government, and enterprise functions. It is a provincial and ministerial-level unit. The U.S. State Department has previously stated that the XPCC is a “quasi-military organization” subordinate to the CCP.
The Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps Construction Engineering Group, known as the XPCC Construction Group, is under the control of the 11th Division of the XPCC and is an important state-owned construction enterprise group within the XPCC system.
According to public records, Xia Jianguo, born in March 1965, has held various positions within the XPCC, including Deputy Commander of the Second Regiment of the 11th Division, as well as Vice General Manager of the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps Eighth Construction Installation Engineering Co., Ltd. He later joined the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps Water Resources and Hydropower Engineering Group Co., Ltd., serving as Deputy Party Secretary, General Manager, and later as Party Secretary, Chairman, and legal representative. Xia Jianguo has been the Party Secretary, Chairman, and legal representative of the Xinjiang XPCC Construction Group since January 2022.
Former Politburo member Ma Xingrui was removed as Xinjiang Party Secretary in July last year and was officially taken down on April 3 this year. During this period, several of his associates in Xinjiang have also encountered troubles, including Liu Chen, Deputy Secretary of the Xinjiang Political and Legal Committee, Jing Zhizhen, Vice Chairman of the Xinjiang Political Consultative Conference, Ma Zhijun, Secretary of the Urumqi Political and Legal Committee, Guo Lianshan, Deputy Chief Prosecutor of the Xinjiang Prosecutor’s Office, Chen Weijun, Executive Vice Chairman of the Xinjiang Government, Li Xu, Deputy Commander of the XPCC, and Mou Zongyi, former Deputy Director of the Xinjiang Public Security Department.
Additionally, on November 3, 2025, Jiang Xinjun, Secretary of the Disciplinary Inspection Commission and Director of the Supervisory Commission of the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, passed away suddenly.
The Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps has been a hotspot for corruption in the past. For instance, on April 18, 2023, Yang Fulin, former Deputy Commander and former Secretary of the Political and Legal Committee of the XPCC, was sentenced to 13 years in prison for bribery. On December 23, 2024, Jiao Xiaoping, former Deputy Commander of the XPCC, received a 14-year sentence for bribery.
In July 2020, the United States announced sanctions against the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps for severe violations of the basic human rights of the Uighur ethnic group in Xinjiang, as well as against Sun Jinlong, former Party Secretary and Political Commissar of the XPCC, and Peng Jiarui, former Deputy Party Secretary and Commander of the XPCC. On July 9 of the same year, sanctions were imposed on Chen Quanguo, the then Party Secretary of Xinjiang. Chen Quanguo was responsible for overseeing detention camps that have imprisoned over a million Uighurs and other minority groups since 2017 and also served as the first Political Commissar of the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps.