In an announcement made yesterday, 73-year-old Li Xiaohong, the former director of the Central Inspection Office of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), has been officially placed under investigation. This development comes as all five important confidants of the former Secretary of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, Wang Qishan, known as the “Five Tigers,” have been investigated, raising speculation about Wang Qishan’s own fate. Rumors about the inside story of Wang Qishan advising Xi Jinping not to seek re-election have resurfaced.
According to official reports on June 2nd, Li Xiaohong, the former director of the Office of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, has been investigated.
Prior to Li Xiaohong’s investigation, two former high-ranking executives who resigned from China Construction Bank Securities were taken in for investigation.
On May 28th, Chinese financial news outlet Caixin reported that Qi Liang, who rose through the ranks from being an independent trader at Huaxia Securities to later becoming the CEO of China Construction Bank Securities, was under investigation. Two other individuals associated with Qi Liang were also investigated at the same time – one was his longtime colleague and former chairman of the board of supervisors at China Construction Bank Securities, Li Shihua, who has since retired; the other was from the regulatory department, with their name and position undisclosed.
Qi Liang and Li Shihua were both former subordinates of Li Xiaohong. Qi Liang experienced the restructuring of Huaxia Securities and served as Li Xiaohong’s deputy in leading the restructuring of Huaxia Securities. On September 19, 2025, China Construction Bank Securities held an event in Beijing to commemorate its 20th anniversary, where Li Xiaohong, former Party Committee Secretary and Chairman of China Construction Bank Securities, and Li Shihua, former Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee and Chairman of the Board of Supervisors, were invited to attend.
Li Xiaohong is a former subordinate of Wang Qishan, the former Secretary of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection.
During Wang Qishan’s tenure as the Secretary of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection at the 18th National Congress of the CCP (at the end of 2012), he led an anti-corruption campaign that made officials fearful. However, he was marginalized after the 19th National Congress of the CCP and transferred to the position of Vice President of the country in 2018, until stepping down in March 2023.
Li Xiaohong, born in March 1953 in Shashi, Hubei Province, graduated from Beijing No. 8 High School in 1968. He worked at a Beijing glass factory early in his career and served as the Party Committee Secretary of Beijing Glass Group Company. Starting in October 1992, he held positions at Beijing First Light Industry General Corporation (Beijing First Light Group), Beijing Hongyun Real Estate Co., Ltd., and Beijing Jing Tai Industry (Group) Co., Ltd.
During the SARS outbreak in 2003, Wang Qishan returned to Beijing from Hainan to serve as the Acting Mayor and Mayor of Beijing until November 2007. During this time, Li Xiaohong took over the restructuring of Huaxia Securities from a state-owned enterprise in Beijing. In August 2005, CITIC Securities and China Construction Bank jointly restructured Huaxia Securities, forming China Construction Bank Securities. Li Xiaohong served as the last Chairman of Huaxia Securities from August 2004 to May 2006 and then as the first Chairman of China Construction Bank Securities.
While Wang Qishan served as the Mayor of Beijing, from May 2006 to March 2007, Li Xiaohong was Deputy Secretary-General of the Beijing Municipal Government and Director of the Beijing Municipal Financial Leadership Office. From March 2007 to February 2010, Li Xiaohong served as Director and Party Committee Secretary of the Office of the Beijing Municipal Government, Deputy Secretary-General of the Beijing Municipal Government (at this time, Zhou Liang was Wang Qishan’s personal secretary).
Wang Qishan was promoted to a member of the Political Bureau of the CCP Central Committee in November 2007, and later served as Vice Premier before becoming a member of the Political Bureau Standing Committee and the Secretary of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection in November 2012. During this period, in January 2010, Li Xiaohong served as Vice Chairman of the Beijing Municipal Consultative Conference; in October 2011, he was appointed a member of the Party Committee and Secretary of the Discipline Inspection Commission of the China Securities Regulatory Commission, serving until July 2013. During this time, in May 2013, he was appointed as Deputy Head of the 7th Central Inspection Team of the CCP Central Committee, assisting Wang Qishan in leading the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection. From October 2013 to September 2017, Li Xiaohong served as Director of the Office of the Central Inspection Team.
An article in the 2nd issue of the CCP party media “People’s Digest” in 2015, titled “How Wang Qishan Selects ‘Tiger Hunters’,” mentioned that Wang Qishan, the then Secretary of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, selected several of his former subordinates to join the Central Inspection Team, including Li Xiaohong, who was then the head of the Office of the Central Inspection Team.
Li Xiaohong has a background in finance and also enjoys writing. Under the pseudonym “Jiusi,” he published the book “Sampinzhai Night Talks” in January 2010, which was widely acclaimed among Beijing officials for the short messages on governance issues sent by the mysterious author daily.
In 2021, the 12-volume series “Old Beijing Chronicles,” edited by Li Xiaohong, was published, with contributions from Qi Liang for “Hutong Streets” and Li Shihua for “Historical Allusions.” Qi Liang, the former CEO of China Construction Bank Securities, and Li Shihua, the former Chairman of the Board of Supervisors of China Construction Bank Securities, have recently been taken in for investigation.
Li Xiaohong and Dong Hong co-authored the book “Financial Anti-Corruption Theory,” published in 2017. The other six contributors to the book were Qi Bin (then Deputy General Manager of CITIC Corporation), Xie Zhichun (former General Manager of Central Huijin Investment Ltd. and Vice Chairman of the Consultation Committee of Qianhai Shekou Free Trade Zone and Qianhai Shenzhen-Hong Kong Cooperation Zone), Zhang Hongli (former Chairman of Deutsche Bank China, then member of the Party Committee and Vice President of Industrial and Commercial Bank of China), Tang Shisheng (former Chairman of Hongyuan Securities and Chairman of Zhongke Software Company), Qi Liang (then CEO of China Construction Bank Securities), and Xia Lizhong (then Deputy Director of the Office of the Central Inspection Team).
The book claims to provide an in-depth analysis of the definition, mechanism, culture, and institutional factors of corruption. However, both Li Xiaohong and Dong Hong, the two chief editors of “Financial Anti-Corruption Theory,” have been investigated (with Dong Hong being investigated in October 2020). Among the other six contributors, Zhang Hongli, former Vice President of ICBC, has been sentenced to death with reprieve, while Qi Liang has also been taken in for investigation.
It is reported that “WeChat Reads” has removed the book “Financial Anti-Corruption Theory.” However, Epoch Times reporters have found that the book can still be found online at Xinhua Bookstore and Dangdang.
Following Li Xiaohong’s downfall, overseas discussions have heated up about Wang Qishan’s downfall and the list of the “Five Tiger Hunters.” Four of them were Wang Qishan’s secretaries, and one was the chief financial officer.
In addition to Li Xiaohong, the former Deputy Head of the Central Inspection Team, Dong Hong, a long-time secretary of Wang Qishan, was investigated in October 2020.
Tian Huiyu, the former CEO of China Merchants Bank who served as Wang Qishan’s secretary during his tenure at China Construction Bank, was placed under investigation in April 2022.
On June 9, 2023, Fan Yifei, former Deputy Governor of the CCP Central Bank, was investigated. Fan Yifei had served as the “chief financial officer” during Wang Qishan’s tenure at China Construction Bank.
Zhou Liang, Wang’s personal secretary for nearly 20 years, was investigated while serving as Deputy Director of the State Administration of Financial Supervision and Management on March 24, 2026.
Dong Hong, Tian Huiyu, and Fan Yifei have all been sentenced to death with reprieve.
The succession of Wang Qishan’s confidants being investigated has stirred discussions online: “It’s been a long time since we’ve heard any news about Wang Qishan.” “Despite Wang Qishan’s anti-corruption efforts, especially in recent years and months, many of his former secretaries have been arrested. However, it may be premature to conclude that Wang is completely finished based on this alone.”
Independent commentator Cai Shenkun posted that almost all of Wang Qishan’s important former subordinates have been sidelined. In order to secure re-election at the 21st National Congress, Xi Jinping no longer considers the feelings of his former political allies. Wang Qishan, who diligently assisted Xi Jinping in eliminating political obstacles during the anti-corruption storm, must be feeling the ruthlessness of politics as he witnesses one after another of his connections being taken down.
On May 19, Cai Shenkun previously revealed in his own media program that after Zhou Liang’s arrest, he provided information on a large number of people, including the current Deputy Secretary of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, Xiao Pei. Zhou Liang reportedly disclosed information about over 70 individuals.
Recent revelations have resurfaced online, asserting that while Wang Qishan was Vice President, Xi sought his opinion. However, Wang expressed his intention not to seek another term at the 20th National Congress and advised Xi not to seek re-election either. Xi, however, did not listen to Wang and completely disregarded his advice, which led to consequences for those close to him.
Cai Shenkun also disclosed that on July 16, 2016, Wang Qishan confided to over 20 close acquaintances, saying, “This is the last time we will meet like this; there won’t be such an opportunity in the future. I am getting old and no longer have the ability to shield everyone from the storm. Everyone should go their separate ways and take care of themselves.”
China expert Li Linyi told Epoch Times that the relationship between Xi and Wang has been close since their days as educated youth, and they were known as the Xi-Wang alliance during Xi’s first five years in office. However, when Xi made compromises with the Jiang faction, abandoning Wang Qishan, the relationship between Xi and Wang deteriorated starting with Wang Qishan’s close friend Ren Zhiqiang being sentenced. Now that Liu Yazhou and Zhang Youxia, among other princelings, are facing trouble, Xi Jinping’s repeated purging of Wang Qishan’s influence remains to be seen if he will further target Wang.