On June 18, 2026, Chen Xi, a close aide of the Chinese Communist Party leader Xi Jinping and former member of the Party’s Politburo, was relieved of his position as the President of the National School of Administration. This role was taken over by Cai Qi, a member of the Communist Party’s Politburo Standing Committee.
Chen Xi, who had long been in charge of the Organization Department of the Party, has recently been removed from his positions. Speculations from media commentators suggest that Chen Xi’s demotion from the vice-ministerial level to the deputy bureau level may be related to the case of Wei Xiaodong, the Chairman of the Beijing Municipal Political Consultative Conference.
According to a report by the Chinese Communist Party’s official media, Xinhua News Agency, on June 18, 2026, Cai Qi has taken over as the President of the National School of Administration while Chen Xi no longer holds this position.
Cai Qi, a member of the Communist Party’s Politburo Standing Committee, attended the graduation ceremony of the 2026 Spring Semester of the Central Party School (National School of Administration) on June 5, 2026, as the President of the school.
In a ceremony on May 15, 2026, marking the start of the second batch of the 2026 Spring Semester, Chen Xi, then the President of the Central Party School (National School of Administration), attended and delivered a speech.
The Central Party School and the National School of Administration were originally separate entities. In March 2018, the two institutions were merged to form the new Central Party School (National School of Administration), operating under a single entity with two labels.
After being relieved of his position as President of the National School of Administration at the age of 73, Chen Xi has completely stepped down. Cai Qi, aged 71, has taken his place, serving as the President of the Central Party School (National School of Administration).
Chen Xi, born in Putian, Fujian in 1953, entered Tsinghua University as a “worker-peasant-soldier student” in 1975, majoring in chemistry. He was a classmate of the Chinese Communist Party leader Xi Jinping, and it is rumored that they were even roommates bunking together. Following Xi Jinping’s rise to power at the 18th Party Congress, Chen Xi was promoted to Deputy Head of the Organization Department. At the 19th Party Congress, he was appointed as the Minister of the Organization Department and entered the Politburo. He also took on the role of the President of the Central Party School (National School of Administration), a position previously held by Wang Huning, a Standing Committee member. Chen Xi served as a key figure in personnel appointments under Xi’s leadership.
Since the merger of the National School of Administration, which was originally under the State Council, into the Central Party School in 2018, Chen Xi had held the dual position of President and Chancellor, overseeing the training of senior party and government officials within the Communist Party’s “special school.”
After the 20th Party Congress, Chen Xi, who was no longer a member of the Politburo or the Central Committee, delayed his resignation as Minister of the Organization Department until April 2023. However, he continued to serve as President of the Central Party School (National School of Administration) in the capacity of an ordinary party member until his recent resignation.
In April 2025, Li Ganjie, a member of the Communist Party’s Politburo and Secretary of the Secretariat, assumed the role of Minister of the Organization Department for less than two years before being unexpectedly transferred to the United Front Work Department. Li Ganjie is a Tsinghua University alumnus with strong support from Chen Xi during his career.
During the same period, several close associates of Chen Xi within the Organization Department were either transferred or investigated. Zhang Jianchun, Chen Xi’s deputy and former Deputy Minister of the Organization Department, fell from grace in June 2024 while serving as Deputy Minister of the Propaganda Department. Cao Xingxin, another associate of Chen Xi in the Organization Department, was investigated in September 2024 while serving as a member of the Party committee and Deputy General Manager of China Unicom.
Moreover, in recent years, many high-ranking officials at the provincial and ministerial levels within the Communist Party have been investigated and removed from their positions, most of whom were appointed during Chen Xi’s tenure as Deputy Minister and Minister of the Organization Department.
Following his dismissal, a commentator named Cai Shenkun posted on X platform on June 19, 2026, stating that Chen Xi, Xi Jinping’s longtime friend and the individual in charge of personnel affairs for over a decade, had been abruptly abandoned by Xi Jinping. Chen Xi’s drastic demotion from a vice-ministerial level to a deputy bureau level, equivalent to his rank 26 years ago, indicates a shift in political stance and misjudgments in personnel appointments. As a key figure with significant influence over the selection and appointment of cadres, Chen Xi had recommended and promoted numerous officials, some of whom Xi Jinping deemed politically disloyal.
Cai Shenkun remarked that Chen Xi’s demotion implies a bleak future for his political associates. Chen Jin, a prominent member of Chen Xi’s clique and Li Ganjie, both distinguished Tsinghua University alumni, may also face marginalization in the future. Hu Heping, the current Deputy Minister of the Propaganda Department and a protege of Chen Xi, may have reached the end of his political career. With the approaching 21st Party Congress, Xi Jinping finds himself in the midst of a new round of power restructuring and personnel adjustments, signaling a new phase of high-level reshuffling.
Following the ousting of Wei Xiaodong, the Chairman of the Beijing Municipal Political Consultative Conference, on June 6, 2026, a commentator known for disclosing insider information on top Communist Party officials, Jiang Wangzheng, posted on the same day alleging that Wei Xiaodong served as a political broker for the “Fujian Tiger Gang” (Cai Qi, Huang Kunming, He Lifeng, Wang Xiaohong, and Chen Xi). They anticipate a significant number of provincial and ministerial-level officials being investigated and mainly due to their involvement in purchasing official positions through Wei Xiaodong from Huang Kunming, Cai Qi, He Lifeng, Chen Xi, and Wang Xiaohong. Jiang Wangzheng also revealed that Chen Xi had announced his retirement and was demoted to a deputy bureau level.
According to public records, Wei Xiaodong, born in Zhangzhou, Fujian in May 1961, graduated from Xiamen University with a major in Economics and Statistics and is a fellow alumnus of He Lifeng.
Wei Xiaodong had long served in the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security of the Chinese Communist Party and the Office of the Central Organization Department. During Chen Xi’s tenure as Deputy Head of the Organization Department, Wei Xiaodong was appointed as the Deputy Director of the Office of the Central Organization Department in August 2016. In April 2017, he became a member of the Beijing Municipal Committee of the Communist Party and the Director of the Organization Department. At that time, Cai Qi was the Deputy Secretary and Mayor of Beijing, while Wang Xiaohong was the Deputy Minister of Public Security and also served as the Deputy Mayor and Director of the Public Security Bureau of Beijing.
After the 19th Party Congress, Cai Qi became a member of the Communist Party’s Politburo Standing Committee and the Secretary of the Beijing Municipal Committee, while Chen Xi was promoted to a member of the Communist Party’s Politburo and the Minister of the Organization Department. Subsequently, in January 2021, Wei Xiaodong was appointed as the Deputy Main Editor, Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee, and Preside of the Beijing Municipal People’s Congress Standing Committee; in August of the same year, he was appointed as the Secretary of the Party Committee of the Beijing Municipal Political Consultative Conference, and in January 2022, he assumed the position of Chairman of the Beijing Municipal Political Consultative Conference, reaching the rank of department head.