In preparation for the upcoming 21st National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party next year, which will involve the issue of Xi Jinping’s reappointment, this year’s Fifth Plenum of the 20th Central Committee of the CCP in October has been confirmed to focus on party discipline. Recent rumors about senior officials getting into trouble have been circulating, with some already confirmed. Analysts point out that the CCP’s behind-the-scenes operations and political rumors are worth observing, as the authorities’ cleansing actions are related to a pre-21st National Congress “silencing” initiative.
On July 31st, the official website of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection of the CCP reported that Xin Baoan, the former Party Secretary and Chairman of State Grid Corporation of China, is under investigation.
On July 30th, independent commentator Cai Shunkun revealed online that Xin Baoan was arrested on July 27th upon returning from Hangzhou to Beijing and that a search was conducted at his home on July 28th. Despite the arrest, the official news agency failed to report it, instead releasing a story on July 28th stating that Xin Baoan attended the “7.26 Power Theme Day” event in Hangzhou and delivered a keynote speech.
On July 31st, Australian self-media personality Jiang Wangzheng disclosed on X that Xin Baoan was involved in some projects in Xinjiang related to Ma Xingrui, as well as the case of Wei Xiaodong, involving corrupt practices.
On July 31st, Guo Wenqing, the former General Manager of China Minmetals Corporation, fell from grace after being retired for two years. Guo Wenqing had previous connections in his career in Hebei with the former chairman of the National People’s Congress, Li Zhanshu.
Cai Shunkun had already leaked information about Guo Wenqing’s fall before the official announcement was made.
The X account “Asia Finance” posted that Guo Wenqing was involved in activities related to power cash-out, transnational state-owned enterprises, Hong Kong, and offshore financial channels, forming a classic circle of high-ranking officials involved in money laundering. Guo Wenqing had a subordinate named Cai Huabo, who worked at Minmetals Securities and later became a wealthy Singaporean businessman. According to the English-language South China Morning Post, Cai Huabo held significant assets in Hong Kong and overseas, frequently conducting capital operations worth hundreds of millions to billions of Hong Kong dollars through offshore companies, such as increasing holdings in listed Hong Kong companies like Grand Hyatt and purchasing luxury homes in Repulse Bay.
Cai Huabo has been rumored to be the son-in-law of Li Zhanshu.
On July 22nd, Cai Shunkun revealed on X that Jiang Jinquan, the former director of the Central Policy Research Office, had been taken away but later released.
On July 19th, several self-media accounts on X platform reported that Wang Huning, the former director of the Central Policy Research Office, had his deputy Jiang Jinquan and his entire family taken away. This time, it was different as Jiang Jinquan and his family were taken away and their homes were searched; they are unlikely to return.
Wang Huning served as the director of the Central Policy Research Office for 18 years from October 2002 to October 2020. During this time, Jiang Jinquan served as his subordinate. In October 2020, he succeeded Wang Huning as the director of the Central Policy Research Office.
Liu Guozhou, a native of Hebei, had a long career in the Beijing public security system, serving as the Deputy District Chief and Public Security Bureau Director of Xicheng District, Vice Director of Beijing Public Security Bureau, and former deputy of Wang Xiaohong (current State Councilor and Minister of Public Security) in the Beijing Public Security Bureau. In July 2020, Liu Guozhou headed south to become the Deputy Mayor of Shenzhen and Party Secretary as well as Director of the Public Security Bureau. In July 2023, Liu Guozhou became the Director of the Guangdong Provincial Public Security Department.
In mid-July, Jiang Wangzheng exposed that Liu Guozhou, Deputy Party Secretary and Director of the Public Security Department, was under investigation by the Guangdong Provincial Government.
It was reported that Liu Guozhou was invited for tea by the Discipline Inspection Commission after returning from the national public security bureau chief meeting in Guangdong. Around the same time, Huang Ruixue, Chief of Sichuan Provincial Public Security Department, returned to Sichuan and suddenly passed away due to a “sudden illness,” with rumors circulating on social media about suicide.
On July 30th, Jiang Wangzheng once again exposed that Jiang Yikang, the former Party Secretary of Shandong Province, retired and became the subject of investigation, involving Hengda’s Xu Jiayin and massive corruption.
On his video program on August 1st, Cai Shunkun stated that Jiang Yikang, a former subordinate of Zeng Qinghong and Executive Deputy Director of the Central Organization Department, was closely linked to Xi Jinping’s current purge of veteran officials before the 21st National Congress.
On September 27, 2023, Bloomberg reported, citing sources, that Xu Jiayin had been taken away by the authorities in early September and placed under residential surveillance at a designated location, with specific reasons still unclear. The official microblog of “Observer” reported hours later that “reliable sources close to Hengda confirmed the news.”
However, Jiang Wangzheng had earlier disclosed on September 18, 2023, that Xu Jiayin had been controlled by the Special Security Bureau of the Ministry of Public Security in Anhui. He had previously mentioned that the former Party Secretary of Shandong Province, Jiang Yikang, and Liu Jiayi were under investigation.
On July 27th, Cai Shunkun revealed that Cui Peng, the last direct descendant of Wang Qishan brought into the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, had just been arrested. Cui Peng, who had previously served as a cadre in the Mayor’s Office of Beijing and later held various positions, was promoted by Wang Qishan during his tenure as Beijing Mayor, later becoming the Deputy Secretary of the Discipline Inspection Commission, and placed as the Deputy Secretary-General of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection by Wang Qishan before his retirement. Following Wang Qishan’s stepping down as the Secretary of the Discipline Inspection Commission, Cui Peng was appointed as the Deputy Minister of Supervision and elected as a standing member of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection during Zhao Leji’s appointment as Secretary of the Discipline Inspection Commission. He has been serving as the head of the Discipline Inspection and Supervision Team of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference since the 19th National Congress.
Many of Xi Jinping’s confidantes and former subordinates have been subjected to scrutiny in recent years, including Dong Hong, former Deputy Head of the Central Inspection Team; Tian Huiyu, former Secretary to Wang Qishan during his tenure at the China Construction Bank and former President of China Merchants Bank; Fan Yifei, former Vice Governor of the People’s Bank of China who served as the “financial grand master” during Wang Qishan’s time at the China Construction Bank.
On July 31st, Jiang Wangzheng disclosed that Lou Jiwei was under investigation.
Lou Jiwei served as the Minister of Finance and Chairman of the China Investment Corporation, playing a crucial role as an important deputy during Zhu Rongji’s economic and fiscal reform period. From November 2016 to April 2019, he was the Chairman of the National Social Security Fund Council. Lou Jiwei retired in March 2023 from his positions as a standing member of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference and Director of the Foreign Affairs Committee.
In his video program, Cai Shunkun mentioned that rumors of Lou Jiwei, a beloved associate of Zhu Rongji, being investigated had been circulating for some time, but the more accurate information about his arrest had only emerged recently.
Interestingly, Zheng Jianxin and Zhang Hong’an, former secretaries of Lou Jiwei, have also been implicated.
Zheng Jianxin had worked with Lou Jiwei in Guizhou and the Ministry of Finance before moving to Hunan, where he served as the Mayor of Changsha before voluntarily surrendering in June 2025. Zhang Hong’an previously served as Lou Jiwei’s secretary and Chairman of the Board of China Merchants Investment Limited; he was investigated in December 2020.
Moreover, Jiang Wangzheng mentioned that Tang Feifan, former Mayor of Ningbo, had also come under investigation. At the age of 54, Tang Feifan resigned in June and took on a ceremonial position in the Zhejiang Provincial People’s Political Consultative Conference.
Tang Feifan had been promoted by two Zhejiang Secretaries, Xia Baolong and Yuan Jiajun in his career.
With the approach of the 21st National Congress next year, particularly concerning Xi Jinping’s reappointment, it is widely believed that before this event, the party will further purify dissidents within its ranks, leading to a new round of high-level internal struggles.
On July 30th, the politburo of the CCP confirmed the convening of the Fifth Plenum of the 20th Central Committee in October, focusing notably on party discipline as the theme. It is generally believed that before the plenum, the cases of Zhang Yuxia and Liu Zhenli will be determined.
Cai Shunkun expressed on his video program that since the beginning of this year, Li Ruihuan, Wen Jiabao, and Wang Qishan’s secretaries and former associates have been successively investigated. The authorities are using this approach to impose fear and silence among the veteran officials, preventing them from expressing any dissenting opinions regarding Xi Jinping’s reappointment before the 21st National Congress. Before the Congress, Xi Jinping will continue cleansing the old guards to secure his reappointment.
Despite efforts by the CCP to suppress information, numerous reports of high-level personnel changes have leaked overseas in recent years, some of which have been confirmed, including the wave of military and military industry purges since 2023.
Current affairs commentator Li Linyi told Dajiyuan that there will be fierce infighting within various factions of the CCP preceding the Fifth Plenum in October this year. Some of the rumored falls are “leading predictions” due to the CCP’s opaque operations, making some rumors not necessarily accurate but still worth observing by external observers.