On April 28, the employees of the First Affiliated Hospital of Hunan University of Chinese Medicine once again reported that the director’s son, Mr. Zhu, has been benefiting from unearned income for a long time, with the amount involved possibly exceeding one million yuan. The director denied the allegation, but the hospital’s discipline inspection committee stated that the Health Management Department had repeatedly awarded Mr. Zhu a bonus of 84,000 yuan. A year ago, the committee indicated that Mr. Zhu had “repeatedly taken money” worth 20,000 yuan and had already refunded it. Ms. Chen urged for a higher-level investigation, sparking attention on social media.
Ms. Chen, an employee of the First Affiliated Hospital of Hunan University of Chinese Medicine, reported to the media on April 28 that the director, Mr. Zhu Zhenhua’s son, Mr. Zhu, had been receiving unearned income amounting to over a million yuan in bonuses.
According to “People’s Concern” report, Mr. Zhu graduated with a bachelor’s degree from Hunan University of Chinese Medicine in July 2019 and was employed at the hospital’s Health Management Department in September of the same year. However, he was never actually on duty in that department. Instead, he worked in the Otolaryngology Department and the Critical Medicine Department while repeatedly receiving benefits from the Health Management Department.
Employees in the Health Management Department receive monthly bonuses of around 10,000 to 20,000 yuan. Ms. Chen estimated that “it could be over 200,000 yuan in a year, and casually over 1.4 million in five to six years.”
On April 28, the media reporter contacted the hospital director, Mr. Zhu Zhenhua, who stated, “There is no issue of unearned income.” He claimed that the matter had already been investigated by the disciplinary department. A staff member at the First Affiliated Hospital of Hunan University of Chinese Medicine responded to the latest report, stating that the disciplinary committee had once again intervened in the investigation and would provide results accordingly.
Before reporting to the media, Ms. Chen had already reported to the hospital several times. The hospital’s disciplinary committee had provided a preliminary investigation conclusion in April 2025. In a phone recording provided by Ms. Chen with her communication with the hospital’s disciplinary committee, it was confirmed that Mr. Zhu had taken 20,000 yuan repeatedly and had refunded it.
Ms. Chen expressed her disbelief in the investigation results provided by the hospital’s disciplinary committee, stating, “I believe he didn’t only take 20,000 yuan. Our hospital’s income is decent, he should have taken 240,000 yuan a year, which totals over 1.4 million in six years. The committee said it wasn’t unearned income, just accidentally taking money twice, and the money has been returned. It’s clear in the recording. I hope they investigate all the money he received in the Health Check Department, it couldn’t be just 20,000 yuan.”
According to a report by the state-run Xinhua News Agency, on April 30, 2026, from Hunan University of Chinese Medicine, it was found in the preliminary investigation that Mr. Zhu graduated from Hunan University of Chinese Medicine in July 2019 and later worked at the First Affiliated Hospital of Hunan University of Chinese Medicine in the Health Management Department. In January 2022, he was seconded to work in the hospital’s Critical Medicine Department. During this secondment, the Health Management Department of the hospital awarded Mr. Zhu a total of 84,000 yuan in performance bonuses. Hunan University of Chinese Medicine has requested Mr. Zhu to return the duplicated performance bonus of 84,000 yuan.
This incident has garnered widespread attention online and trended on Weibo.
Netizens commented, “The investigation result seems perfunctory.” “This lady is really brave… and her demands are reasonable, can’t investigate oneself. A higher-level investigation is indeed necessary!” “At least it’s embezzlement of duty.” “Investigating oneself, quite humorous.”
“She reported to the hospital last time, and the disciplinary committee found that the director’s son indeed ‘repeatedly took money,’ totalling 20,000 yuan. This time, after she reported to the media, the school’s preliminary investigation showed that the director’s son had repeated performance bonus payments, totaling 84,000 yuan. How did it increase the more they investigated…”
“On one hand, ordinary medical staff work hard, pull night shifts, and get paid for their work, while on the other hand, the director’s children don’t have to work on duty but still receive salaries, occupying positions and salary quotas out of thin air, which is particularly unfair. Such nepotism and unearned benefits not only waste public resources but also severely undermine the initiative of grassroots employees.”
“If you’re an undergraduate entering a tertiary hospital in a provincial capital, there’s basically no hope, but if your father is the director, the situation is different. In this case, entering a tertiary hospital’s Health Management Department as an undergraduate, entering first and then actually working in the Otolaryngology Department and the Critical Medicine Department. Not working in the Health Management Department but receiving benefits, leading to reports of long-term unearned income.”
“Does a doctor’s qualifications only need to be an undergraduate in a tertiary hospital? Many medical students would envy this. By the way, should investigate if the director’s father abused his power and violated regulations to help his son get employed?”
Hunan University of Chinese Medicine’s official website information shows that the First Affiliated Hospital of Hunan University of Chinese Medicine was founded in 1963. In 1994, it became the first Grade A tertiary Chinese medicine hospital in Hunan Province and was rated a national provincial-level demonstration Chinese medicine hospital. In 2008, it was selected as a national Chinese medicine clinical research base, and from 2021 to 2023, it has been rated as an A+ grade in national Grade A tertiary public Chinese medicine hospitals’ effectiveness monitoring for three consecutive years.
Hunan University of Chinese Medicine is a key undergraduate institution in Hunan Province, the first batch of national key discipline Chinese medicine institutions established nationwide.