On May 13, 2026, Lin Jingzhen, former Party committee member and vice president of Bank of China Limited, was arrested and prosecuted, eight months after being taken down. Lin Jingzhen is a close associate of Xi Jinping, the leader of the Communist Party of China, and also a younger schoolmate of He Lifeng, a prominent figure.
The Supreme People’s Procuratorate of the Communist Party of China announced on its website on May 13, 2026, that the investigation into Lin Jingzhen’s alleged bribery case at Bank of China Limited had concluded and transferred to the prosecution authorities for review and prosecution. The Zhejiang Provincial People’s Procuratorate made the decision to arrest Lin Jingzhen on suspicion of bribery.
Recently, the Hangzhou Municipal People’s Procuratorate in Zhejiang Province has filed a lawsuit against Lin Jingzhen. He stands accused of using his positions as vice president of Bank of China (Hong Kong) Limited, Party committee member, and vice president of Bank of China Limited to facilitate benefits for others, illegally accepting property from others in a large amount. He is to be held accountable for the crime of bribery.
In the past few years, several high-ranking executives of Bank of China have fallen from grace, including Liu Liange, former Party secretary and chairman of Bank of China, Wang Jianhong, former Party secretary and president of Bank of China Beijing Branch, Guo Xingang, former Party secretary and president of Bank of China Zhejiang Branch, Gao Zongsheng, former Party committee member and vice president of Bank of China Inner Mongolia Branch, Wang Jianxin, former Party committee member and discipline inspection secretary of Bank of China Henan Branch, and Chen Bin, former chief researcher of Bank of China Research Institute. Lin Jingzhen has connections with these fallen executives.
It is noteworthy that Lin Jingzhen is a younger schoolmate of He Lifeng, a close confidant of Xi Jinping. Their career paths have multiple hidden connections.
According to publicly available resumes, Lin Jingzhen, born in May 1965 in Huian County, Quanzhou City, Fujian Province, graduated from the Finance and Economics Department of Xiamen University from 1983 to 1987. He Lifeng, born in February 1955 in Longyan City, Fujian Province, studied Finance and Economics at Xiamen University from 1978 and continued with a Master’s degree until 1984.
After obtaining his Master’s degree in 1984, He Lifeng held various positions in the Xiamen municipal government before eventually becoming the director of the Xiamen Municipal Finance Bureau from 1987 to 1990. During this time, Xi Jinping was serving as the Deputy Mayor of Xiamen for three years starting from 1985.
Following his undergraduate studies, Lin Jingzhen worked in various departments at the Xiamen Branch of Bank of China from July 1987 to June 1989, before being assigned to work at the Hong Kong Branch and holding positions as deputy manager and manager.
From 1995 to 2000, He Lifeng served as the Deputy Party Secretary, Mayor, and Party Secretary of Quanzhou City in Fujian Province, which happens to be Lin Jingzhen’s hometown. During this period, He Lifeng pursued his Ph.D. in Economics at Xiamen University from 1995 to 1998 while continuing to work. At the same time, Lin Jingzhen was recommended by Bank of China to pursue an MBA at Xiamen University in 1998 and obtained a Master’s degree in Business Administration in 2000.
From May 2002 to December 2004, Lin Jingzhen served as the Director of the Business Department at Bank of China Fujian Branch. Notably, during this period, He Lifeng held senior positions within the Fujian provincial government and Xi Jinping served as the Governor of Fujian Province from August 1999 to October 2002.
From December 2004 to May 2015, Lin Jingzhen worked at the headquarters of Bank of China for over a decade. Following Xi Jinping’s rise to power, particularly after 2015, Lin Jingzhen quickly climbed the ranks within Bank of China. He was promoted to Vice President of BOC Hong Kong (Holdings) Limited in May 2015, and in March 2018, he became a Party committee member and vice president of Bank of China, additionally serving as Chairman of BOC International Holdings Limited and BOC International Securities Limited.
After Xi Jinping came to power during the 18th National Congress, He Lifeng was appointed as the Executive Deputy Director and later Director of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) in 2017. Within the Chinese State Council ministries, the NDRC, as the comprehensive department for macroeconomic planning and management, plays a significant role in the “economic cabinet” and is often referred to as a “mini State Council.”
During his tenure as the director of the NDRC from February 2017 to March 2023, He Lifeng collaborated closely with Bank of China. For instance, on November 8, 2017, Bank of China signed a framework agreement on collaborative promotion of the “Belt and Road” production capacity cooperation with the NDRC, with He Lifeng, the director at the time, attending the signing ceremony. On May 13, 2020, Bank of China initiated the “Digital Transformation Partner Action” with various departments, including the NDRC.
Following the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, there have been power struggles among the top leaders, resulting in the downfall of officials from the NDRC, which was once under He Lifeng’s influence. On April 25, 2026, Wu Hao, former Secretary-General of the NDRC, was investigated. On March 31, 2026, Wang Yue, former Deputy Director of the Fixed Asset Investment Department of the NDRC and Grade One Inspector, was investigated. On March 23, 2026, Li Haochuan, Deputy Director of the National Public Credit and Geographic Spatial Information Center under the NDRC was arrested. In July 2025, Yu Shiyang, Director of the Big Data Development Department at the National Information Center under the NDRC, was taken down on duty.