On August 22, 2026, the sixth plenary session of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection of the Chinese Communist Party was held in Beijing. During the meeting, Vice Secretaries Xiao Pei and Fu Kui were notably absent from the podium, leading to speculations that they had been removed from their positions.
Xiao Pei and Fu Kui are former members of the Standing Committee and close associates of Wang Qishan, the Secretary of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection. Xiao Pei was transferred to a different position in the Political Consultative Conference in June 2026. Fu Kui, on the other hand, served as the Secretary of the Discipline Inspection Commission in Hunan Province for over five years and was previously implicated in a case involving the death of Liu Wenjie, the former Finance Director of Hunan Province.
According to reports from the official Chinese state media, Xinhua News Agency, the 6th plenary session of the 20th Central Commission for Discipline Inspection took place in Beijing. Li Xi, a member of the Politburo Standing Committee and Secretary of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, delivered a speech during the meeting. A total of 116 Commission members attended the session, during which Zhao Shiyong was elected as the Vice Secretary of the Commission and Zhang Zhong was elected as a member and Vice Secretary of the Standing Committee.
During the meeting broadcast on the Central Chinese Television news program, before the election process, 14 individuals, including Secretary Li Xi and five Vice Secretaries – Liu Jinguo, Yu Hongqiu, Sun Xinyang, Liu Xuexin, and Zhang Fuhai, as well as eight Standing Committee members, were seen seated at the podium. However, Vice Secretary of the Central Military Commission Zhang Shengmin was notably absent, as were Xiao Pei and Fu Kui.
Social media account “China Personnel Observation” pointed out that Xiao Pei and Fu Kui were no longer seated at the podium, indicating that they had likely been relieved of their duties as Vice Secretaries of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection. Their vacancies were filled during the plenary session with the appointment of Zhao Shiyong and Zhang Zhong as new Vice Secretaries.
Continuing reports noted that while Yu Hongqiu, who is older than Xiao Pei and Fu Kui, remained in her position as Vice Secretary, suggesting that age may not have been the primary reason for the removal of the two officials.
Fu Kui, born in September 1962 in Danjiangkou, Hubei Province, held various positions within the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection since August 1986. He served as the Deputy Director of the Supervision Integrated Office, Director of the Discipline Inspection and Supervision Research Institute, Director of the Clean Government Theory Research Center, and Director of the Law Enforcement Supervision Office. Additionally, he served as the Deputy Secretary-General of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and the Director of the Supervision Combined Office.
Upon Wang Qishan assuming leadership of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, Fu Kui was appointed as the Deputy Director of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau and concurrently as the Director of the Anti-Corruption Office of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection. He later assumed the roles of Director of the International Cooperation Office of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau and Director of the newly established International Cooperation Office of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, as well as the head of the Central Office for Fugitive Repatriation.
In July 2015, Fu Kui was transferred to serve as a member of the Standing Committee of the Communist Party of Hunan Province and the Secretary of the Provincial Commission for Discipline Inspection. He was promoted to the Deputy Secretary of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection in January 2021 and appointed as the Deputy Director of the National Supervisory Commission in February 2021.
Of interest is Fu Kui’s previous role as the Secretary of the Discipline Inspection Commission in Hunan Province for over five years. Notably, both the former Chief of the China Banking Regulatory Commission, Zhou Liang, who was investigated in September 2024, and the former Party Secretary of Hubei Province, Jiang Chaoliang, who was investigated a year prior, hail from Hunan Province and have connections to Wang Qishan.
Wang Qishan himself has ties to the Hunan officialdom. In May 2017, Wang Qishan was listed as a delegate at the Hunan Provincial Party Congress, and later attended discussions with the Hunan delegation during the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China in October 2017.
During the 13th National People’s Congress, Wang Qishan served as a delegate from Hunan Province for a term spanning from March 2018 to March 2023. He was present as part of the Hunan delegation during the two sessions of the Communist Party from 2018 to 2023.
As of now, Fu Kui has not been officially relieved of his duties as the Vice Secretary of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, nor have the reasons behind the events been disclosed. Two years earlier, Fu Kui was implicated in the case involving the death of Liu Wenjie, the former Finance Director of Hunan Province.
In September 2024, Liu Wenjie, the Party Secretary and Director of the Hunan Provincial Finance Department, aged 58, was tragically murdered. The suspects, Jiang Yihui, and Jiang Hui, subsequently fell to their deaths.
In September 2024, commentator Cai Shunkun disclosed in a self-media program that while serving as the Deputy Director of the Provincial Audit Department, Liu Wenjie’s husband was a deputy department-level official. Liu Wenjie, during his tenure as the Deputy Director of the Finance Department, became acquainted with Jiang Yihui, who was in his twenties, and they stayed in contact. Fu Kui, who served as the Secretary of the Discipline Inspection Commission in Hunan Province from 2015 to 2018, had a close relationship with Liu Wenjie.
Allegations surfaced indicating that Fu Kui’s son faced financial challenges in his real estate business and Fu sought Liu Wenjie’s help in raising 60 million RMB. Liu Wenjie arranged for Jiang Yihui to provide the loan at 15% interest, with Liu Wenjie guaranteeing the loan. Jiang Yihui borrowed 60 million from the private lending market. Subsequently, due to a downturn in the real estate market, Fu’s son was unable to repay the principal and interest as agreed. Jiang Yihui, feeling pressured in Pingjiang, frequently called Liu demanding repayment, leading to a dispute that culminated in tragedy.
At the time, Cai Shunkun suggested that Liu Wenjie’s husband had been restrained, while it was anticipated that Fu Kui might face similar consequences due to his high-ranking position in the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection.
Additionally, reports indicated that the “Hunan Seven Sons” were linked to the case of Liu Wenjie, the former Director of the Hunan Provincial Finance Department.
In September 2024, commentator Jiang Wangzheng disclosed to Dajiyuan that the debts involved in the private loans guaranteed by Liu Wenjie, the Director of the Provincial Finance Department of Hunan, could amount to approximately between 240-250 million, with a significant portion potentially flowing to the “Hunan Seven Sons.”
According to circulating information, the identified “Hunan Seven Sons” include the sons of former Zhejiang Provincial Party Secretary and former Changsha Municipal Party Secretary Yi Lianhong – Yi Shiwei, the son of the former Chairman of the China Securities Regulatory Commission Yi Huiman, the son of the former Vice Chairman of the Hunan Provincial Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference Yi Pengfei, the son of the former Chairman of the Hunan Provincial Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference Li Weiwei, the son of the former Vice Chairman of the Hunan Provincial Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference Huang Lanxiang, the son of the former Deputy Director of the National Administration for Quality Supervision, former Deputy Secretary of the Hunan Provincial Party Committee Mei Kebao, and the son of the former Mayor of Chongqing and former Changsha Municipal Party Secretary Hu Henghua.
Among these sons, Yi Lianhong was investigated and placed under disciplinary action while serving as the Deputy Director of the Finance and Economic Committee of the National People’s Congress in February 2026. Hu Henghua was dismissed from his position as Mayor of Chongqing in March 2026. Li Weiwei was apprehended in July 2024 while serving as the Deputy Director of the National People’s Congress on Population, Resources, and Environment, receiving a life sentence in February 2026. Yi Pengfei was investigated in February 2023 and sentenced to life imprisonment in March 2024.
Jiang Wangzheng further divulged on March 18, 2026, that following a six-month investigation by the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, Hu Henghua was taken away for questioning by the Fifth Surveillance Office of the Discipline Inspection Commission. Simultaneously, suspicions were raised about an internal informant within the Commission pointing towards Fu Kui, the Vice Secretary of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection.
Xiao Pei, a former member of the Standing Committee of the Communist Party of China and a Secretary of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection during Wang Qishan’s tenure in the Beijing Municipal Committee and Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, was rumored to have been implicated by Zhou Liang, the former Deputy Director of the China Banking Regulatory Commission, leading to his dismissal and investigation. This ultimately resulted in Xiao Pei being appointed as the Deputy Director of the Social and Legal Committee of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference in June 2026. Xiao Pei subsequently missed the Standing Committee meeting of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection held on July 3, 2026, indicating an early retirement from his post as Vice Secretary of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection without completing a full term.
Having succeeded Wang Qishan as the Secretary of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection after the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, Wang Qishan played a significant role in clearing political obstacles for Xi Jinping. However, following the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, Wang Qishan was increasingly marginalized, eventually transitioning to the role of Vice President in 2018 before stepping down in March 2023.
In recent years, individuals close to Wang Qishan have been subjected to disciplinary actions, including Dong Hong, the former Deputy Director of the Central Inspection Team who had long worked as Wang Qishan’s “right-hand man,” Li Xiaohong, the former Director of the Central Inspection Office, and Tian Huiyu, the former President of China Merchants Bank who served as Wang Qishan’s secretary during his tenure at the China Construction Bank, as well as Fan Yifei, the former Deputy Governor of the People’s Bank of China who oversaw financial matters during Wang Qishan’s tenure, and Zhou Liang, Wang Qishan’s longtime aide who held high-ranking positions across provincial departments.
In June 2026, the American magazine “The Diplomat” revealed that after securing his re-election during the 21st National Congress of the Communist Party, President Xi Jinping shifted focus towards influential party elders, targeting his former ally Wang Qishan. Though no formal charges were publicly announced against Wang Qishan by the Beijing authorities, reports indicated that he was effectively placed under house arrest.
On August 17, 2026, amidst rumors of house arrest, Wang Qishan appeared alongside some retired elders at a memorial event for former Party leader Jiang Zemin, sparking heightened speculation from the public and media alike.