Chongqing Vice Mayor and Public Security Bureau Chief Zhang Anjiang “passed away” on May 7, 2026, at the age of 55. Within less than seven years from the end of 2019 to the present, three vice-ministerial level officials in Chongqing have passed away in unusual circumstances, with many similarities in the details, leading to speculation.
According to the report released by the Chongqing Daily client on the evening of May 7, 2026, the funeral work team of Zhang Anjiang announced that Chongqing’s Deputy Mayor and Secretary of the Party Committee of the Municipal Public Security Bureau Zhang Anjiang “passed away due to a sudden illness and salvage efforts were ineffective, at 10:52 on May 7, 2026, at the age of 55.”
Zhang Anjiang becomes the third vice-ministerial official in recent years to pass away unexpectedly during his tenure, following Ren Xuefeng, Vice Secretary of the Chongqing Municipal Committee, and Zhang Hongxing, member of the Chongqing Municipal Committee.
Ren Xuefeng passed away on October 31, 2019; three years and five months later, Zhang Hongxing passed away on April 1, 2023; followed by Zhang Anjiang on May 7, 2026. All three individuals passed away at around the age of 55.
What is striking is that the official announcements from Chongqing regarding the deaths of the three individuals are also remarkably similar.
In a report from the Chongqing official media Huá Lóng Wěi released on November 3, 2019, it was announced that Ren Xuefeng, Vice Secretary of the Chongqing Municipal Committee, “recently passed away due to ineffective medical treatment, at the age of 54.”
On the evening of April 1, 2023, the Chongqing official media Huá Lóng Wěi reported that Zhang Hongxing, member of the Chongqing Municipal Committee and Secretary of the Party Committee of Liangjiang New Area, “passed away due to ineffective treatment for illness at 17:34 on April 1, 2023, at the age of 55.”
The official reports from Chongqing have all described the deaths of the three individuals as “unexpected.”
After Zhang Hongxing’s passing, Hong Kong’s Sing Tao Daily reported on April 3, 2022, that according to sources, if a Chinese Communist Party (CCP) official dies normally, the obituary usually states “passed away,” but if the death is abnormal, it states “departed.” There were rumors that Zhang Hongxing died by suicide due to depression, possibly from falling off a building.
Following Zhang Anjiang’s passing, on May 7, 2026, multiple accounts on an overseas platform suggested that he “died from a fall.”
There were reports after Ren Xuefeng’s passing suggesting that on October 31, 2019, he died by falling off a building at the Jingxi Guesthouse in Beijing during the Fourth Plenary Session of the 19th Central Committee.
The political scene in Chongqing has long been described as being under a “curse.” The Secretary of the Chongqing Municipal Committee Bo Xilai fell from power on March 15, 2012, and was sentenced to life imprisonment on September 22, 2013. After him, Sun Zhengcai, who succeeded him as Chongqing Municipal Party Secretary, fell from grace while in office in July 2017. Prior to Zhang Anjiang, three successive Chongqing Public Security Bureau Chiefs, including Wang Lijun, He Ting, and Deng Huilin, had all stumbled while serving in Chongqing.
Recently, former Deputy Secretary of the Chongqing Municipal Committee and Mayor Hu Henghua was announced to be under investigation on March 20, 2026, and former member of the Municipal Committee and Secretary of the Liangjiang New Area Committee Luo Lin was arrested on April 17, 2026.