In the latest updates from Hubei Province, multiple high-ranking officials have been investigated and removed from their positions. The former Secretary-General of the Wuhan Municipal Government, Liu Zhihui, was placed under investigation on June 1, 2026. Prior to that, Zhou Xianwang, the former Mayor of Wuhan and Vice Chairman of the Hubei Provincial Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), was removed from office in July 2025. Over the past year, a series of prominent officials in Hubei Province have faced similar fates, including Wang Zhonglin, the Secretary of the Hubei Provincial Party Committee, who recently stepped down with an uncertain future ahead.
On June 1, 2026, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and the National Supervisory Commission of the Communist Party of China announced on the official website of the Hubei Provincial Commission for Discipline Inspection and Supervision that Liu Zhihui, former Party Secretary of the Wuhan Business School, is suspected of serious violations of discipline and law and is undergoing investigation.
Liu Zhihui, a native of Zhongxiang, Hubei Province, was born in February 1964. Throughout his career, he held various positions in the Wuhan Municipal Government, including Deputy Secretary of the Research Office of the Wuhan Municipal Committee, Director of the Party and Masses Department, among others. He served as the Secretary of the Party Committee at Wuhan Business School from 2019 to 2024, before being relieved of his duties.
During the tenures of Chen Yixin as Secretary of the Wuhan Municipal Committee and Wan Yong as Mayor of Wuhan, Liu Zhihui was appointed as the Secretary-General of the Wuhan Municipal Government in April 2017. He also held key roles in the municipal government, contributing to various administrative tasks alongside the city’s leadership.
Amidst the ongoing shake-ups in Hubei’s political landscape, it is worth mentioning that a domino effect has occurred involving several officials in the region. In July 2025, Zhou Xianwang was removed from his position and subsequently investigated for corrupt practices. The official report cited his indulgence in a decadent lifestyle, engaging in corrupt dealings, and accepting substantial illegal gains through abusing his authority.
Zhou Xianwang, a member of the Tujia ethnic group born in Jian Shi County, Enshi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture, had a long-standing career in the bureaucracy of Hubei Province. Prior to his downfall, he held positions such as Director of the Hubei Provincial Department of Commerce and Director of Foreign Investment Office, and Secretary of the Huangshi Municipal Committee, before becoming the Mayor of Wuhan in 2018.
The COVID-19 outbreak in Wuhan at the end of 2019 exposed the mishandling of the crisis by the local government, leading to widespread criticism aimed at figures like Zhou Xianwang and Ma Guoqiang, the Secretary of the Wuhan Municipal Committee. Their delayed response and management of the pandemic fueled public outrage, with Zhou even shifting blame to the central government during an interview with China Central Television (CCTV) in January 2020.
Subsequently, a purge of officials in Hubei followed suit. Jiang Chaoliang, then Secretary of the Hubei Provincial Party Committee, and Ma Guoqiang, the Wuhan Municipal Committee Secretary, were dismissed from their positions in February…
(Continues…)