In recent news from June 11, 2026, it was reported that Ma Xingrui, a member of the Chinese Communist Party Central Political Bureau, was placed under investigation in early April. Gao Shiwen, who previously served as Ma Xingrui’s secretary, and was the Mayor of Nanchang, Jiangxi Province, has been “missing” for several months, and his personal profile has been removed from the official website.
After being disappeared for four months, the personal information of Gao Shiwen, the Mayor of Nanchang City in Jiangxi Province, has been taken down from the “City Government Leadership” section of the Nanchang Municipal Government website on June 11.
Starting from February this year, Gao Shiwen had been absent from important meetings in Nanchang city. The updates of “Gao Shiwen’s Weekly Political Affairs” by the Nanchang City government’s new media account, which used to be circulated every Sunday, came to a halt on February 8. Speculations on social media suggested that Gao Shiwen might have been summoned for questioning.
According to his public resume, Gao Shiwen is 52 years old, hailing from Qingzhou, Shandong Province. He started working in the aerospace industry after graduating from university in 1997, with nearly 20 years of experience in the field. During the period when Ma Xingrui, also a fellow Shandong native, served as the General Manager of the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation from 2007 to 2013, Gao Shiwen held positions such as Deputy Director of the Office of the General Manager and Director of the General Manager’s Office.
Ma Xingrui left the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation in 2013, while Gao Shiwen was promoted to Vice President of China Aerospace International Holdings Limited in 2014. He later assumed the role of Vice President of China Aerospace International Holdings Limited and Chairman of the Hainan Aerospace Investment Management Co., Ltd. In 2016, Gao Shiwen was appointed as the Vice Mayor of Ganzhou City, Jiangxi Province, and later became the Mayor of Nanchang in 2024.
Last year in July, Ma Xingrui stepped down as the Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party Xinjiang Regional Committee, with the official statement citing “another assignment.” On April 3 this year, it was revealed that Ma Xingrui was under investigation while serving as the Deputy Leader of the Central Rural Work Leading Group.
In a separate development, Guo Yonghang, the Vice Chairman of the Guangdong Provincial Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, was officially announced to have been taken down from his position on March 27. Originally from Jiyang, Shandong Province, Guo Yonghang had a long career in Guangdong and previously served as the secretary to Ma Xingrui, who was then the Secretary of the Shenzhen Municipal Party Committee. Guo subsequently held positions as the Secretary of the Zhuhai Municipal Committee, Mayor of Guangzhou, and a member of the Guangdong Provincial Committee as well as the Secretary of the Guangzhou Municipal Committee. He was relieved of his secretary duties last year and appointed as the Vice Chairman of the Guangdong Provincial Committee of the CPPCC in January this year.
It is noteworthy that Ma Xingrui and Peng Liyuan, the wife of Xi Jinping, have ties as fellow natives of Yuncheng, Shandong Province. There have been speculations in the political circles that Ma Xingrui is associated with Peng Liyuan’s “Shandong faction” or “wife’s faction.”
Independent commentator Du Zheng had previously pointed out in an article in Taiwan’s “Liberation Times” that Guo Yonghang and Gao Shiwen share two significant labels: both were secretaries to Ma Xingrui and are from the same hometown in Shandong. In the Chinese Communist Party’s political landscape, secretaries often play a close and influential role, and any issues involving them typically reflect on their superior. The shared label of being “Shandong natives” further emphasizes the role of hometown connections in Party politics.