After several high-ranking officials from Chongqing were either arrested or died, Yuan Jiajun, the Chongqing Municipal Party Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party, recently stated that loyalty should be placed as a top priority and that central authority should be upheld, sparking speculation. Yuan Jiajun, who comes from a military background, has triggered associations with the military corruption purge due to his own involvement in the military industry.
According to information from the Chongqing Municipal Government website, Yuan Jiajun chaired a work exchange meeting on performance assessment in Chongqing yesterday (June 15) and delivered a speech. Yuan Jiajun mentioned that “loyalty in performing duties should be placed as a top priority” and emphasized “resolutely upholding the authority of the central government” and “comprehensively and thoroughly eliminating harmful influences.”
In the past, officials in Chongqing have called for the eradication of the remnants of Bo Xilai and Sun Zhengcai, but this time Yuan Jiajun did not specify what exactly should be eliminated.
On May 8, Lu Kehua, former member of the Chongqing Municipal Committee and Secretary of the Political and Legal Affairs Committee, was sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve after falling from grace for more than a year, accused of accepting bribes exceeding 189 million yuan. On May 7, Chongqing official news reported that Deputy Mayor and Secretary of the Party Committee and Director of Public Security Bureau Zhang Anjiang passed away due to a “sudden illness”. However, there were widespread rumors online that Zhang Anjiang died by jumping off a building.
On March 20, Hu Henghua, Deputy Secretary of the Chongqing Municipal Committee and Mayor, was placed under investigation during his tenure; on April 17, Luo Lin, member of the Chongqing Municipal Committee and Secretary of the Liangjiang New Area Committee, was also arrested. Even earlier, on October 25, 2025, Jiang Duntao, Deputy Mayor of Chongqing, was investigated during his term.
The recent corruption in the Chongqing officials is connected to the bribery case of Fujian-based Three Ann’s Optoelectronics.
On April 29, Caixin reported that on April 19, Peng Jing, founder and managing partner of Qingsheng Law Firm in Chongqing, was taken away by relevant departments, suspected to be involved with the cases of Hu Henghua, Lu Kehua, and Jiang Duntao.
During Hu Henghua’s case, Lin Kechuang reportedly transferred 30.8 million USDT to Hu Henghua (approximately 210 million yuan, with 10 million as the exchange fee). After Hu Henghua was investigated, the cold wallet (an offline hardware device or private key used to store cryptocurrencies like USDT) was controlled, and the authorities found that Lin Kechuang held six other cold wallets with funds flow. Among them, a transfer of 15.5 million USDT, claimed to be transferred to Luo Lin by Lin Kechuang. Luo Lin was taken away on April 14, and at Peng Jing’s home closely associated with Luo, authorities found Luo Lin’s cold wallet.
Upon Hu Henghua being officially investigated on March 20, the Municipal Party Secretary Yuan Jiajun held a meeting and expressed a stance by distancing from Hu Henghua, stating to “support the central government’s decision” and calling for the eradication of the so-called “brotherhood” culture (referring to the prevalent secret society culture in the southwestern regions such as Chongqing).
For over a decade, the mountainous city seems to have fallen under a curse, becoming a “pit of ten thousand people” in the officialdom. Two Secretaries of the Municipal Party Committee who were also members of the Political Bureau (Bo Xilai and Sun Zhengcai) have been imprisoned, the former Deputy Secretary of the Municipal Party Committee Ren Xuefeng fell from a building in the capital city, and three Deputy Mayors who also served as Directors of Public Security Bureau (Wang Lijun, He Ting, Deng Huilin) were subsequently arrested. Netizens have long joked that the Municipal Party Committee and the Municipal Government building in Chongqing are built on a hillside, suggesting bad Feng Shui.
In April 2024, Yuan Jiajun, the Municipal Party Secretary of Chongqing, accompanied Xi Jinping on an inspection of Chongqing. At that time, the official Chinese media stated that Xi Jinping “affirmed the achievements made in various fields in Chongqing.” Therefore, Yuan Jiajun was once regarded as promising, with some believing that he had a chance to be included in the 21st Central Committee of the Communist Party of China.
However, with the turmoil in the Chongqing officialdom, rumors about Yuan Jiajun’s uncertain future are rife.
After Yuan Jiajun’s recent statement, overseas netizens are actively discussing: “The Feng Shui in Chongqing is bad; this time Mr. Yuan may be in trouble.” “It seems like this game is going to continue reshuffling.” “If he doesn’t come out to show his determination, he may become the target of the purge.”
Yuan Jiajun is also connected to members of the Chinese Communist military-industrial complex who have recently been targeted for cleaning.
At the age of 63, Yuan Jiajun served as Deputy General Manager of Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation from November 2007 to May 2011. He has connections with several high-ranking officials with military backgrounds who have fallen from grace or gone “missing” within the aerospace industry, such as Wu Yansheng, Dai Shuolun, Lei Fanpei, Yuan Jie, and Xu Dazhe. He also once served as a deputy to Ma Xingrui. Ma Xingrui, a former member of the Political Bureau, was dismissed as the Secretary of Xinjiang for “disappearing” for some time last year and was formally arrested in early April this year.
Independent commentator Du Zheng wrote in an article in The Paper that the military-industrial system itself is relatively closed and more corrupt and dark than ordinary enterprises. Officials within the same enterprise are often corrupt accomplices, sharing prosperity and downfall collectively. In recent years, many of those promoted by Xi Jinping have encountered issues, mostly due to mutual “biting” in internal struggles. Yuan Jiajun may not be able to escape being implicated in the aerospace system scandal.