The Chinese Communist Party’s high-ranking official, Huang Lixin, Director of the Shanghai Municipal People’s Congress, has been unusually out of public sight for over four weeks from the end of July 2026 until now (as of August 25). She has consecutively been absent from important meetings such as the 32nd session of the Shanghai Municipal People’s Congress Standing Committee; currently, the reason for her absence is unknown.
Of note, in recent years, the Jiangsu officialdom where Huang Lixin previously served has been undergoing continuous purges; many officials who have been investigated are from Huang Lixin’s former department. Among them, Huang Lixin’s former housekeeper, Zhu Haisheng, was investigated on May 11, 2026; and her former deputy, Long Xiang, was sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve on August 11, 2026.
According to reports from official media in Shanghai, a symposium commemorating Jiang Zemin’s birthday was held on the morning of August 21, 2026. Chen Jining, Secretary of the Shanghai Municipal Party Committee, delivered a speech at the meeting. Gong Zheng, Deputy Secretary of the Municipal Party Committee and Mayor of Shanghai, presided over the symposium, while Hu Wenrong, Chairman of the City’s Political Consultative Conference, and Zhu Zhongming, Deputy Secretary of the Municipal Party Committee, attended. Among the leaders of the four leading bodies in Shanghai, only Director of the Shanghai Municipal People’s Congress, Huang Lixin, was absent.
Four weeks ago, on July 28, 2026, the 32nd meeting of the 16th Shanghai People’s Congress Standing Committee was held in the Shanghai Expo Center, during which Huang Lixin, as Director of the Shanghai Municipal People’s Congress, was unusually absent.
According to the official Shanghai media, the meeting was chaired by Deputy Director Zheng Gangmiao of the Shanghai Municipal People’s Congress Standing Committee, on behalf of Huang Lixin, who was absent. Chen Jining, Secretary of the Municipal Party Committee, attended the meeting, while Gong Zheng, Deputy Secretary of the Municipal Party Committee and Mayor, represented the municipal government; Hu Wenrong, Chairman of the City’s Political Consultative Conference, and Zhu Zhongming, Deputy Secretary of the Municipal Party Committee, along with Vice Directors of the Municipal People’s Congress Standing Committee, Zong Ming, Chen Jing, Zhang Quan, Xu Yisong, and Teng Jianyong, were present. Former Directors of the Shanghai Municipal People’s Congress, Liu Yungeng and Yin Yicui, as well as former Chairman of the Shanghai Municipal Political Consultative Conference, Jiang Yiren, and Feng Guoqin, attended the meeting.
Huang Lixin also consecutively missed the opening ceremony of the Shanghai Municipal People’s Congress on July 27 and the closing session on July 29. Deputy Director Zheng Gangmiao presided over the opening ceremony on July 27, and the closing session on July 29 was chaired by Deputy Director Zheng Gangmiao and Vice Director Zong Ming. Previously, almost all full sessions of the Shanghai Municipal People’s Congress were presided over by Huang Lixin.
On July 16, 2026, Huang Lixin chaired the 69th executive meeting of the Standing Committee of the Shanghai Municipal People’s Congress, deciding on the convening of the 32nd session from July 27 to 29.
The Ninth Plenary Session of the Shanghai Municipal Committee of the Twelfth Chinese Communist Party was held on July 24, 2026. On July 27, the official media in Shanghai reported that the Party Committee of the Shanghai Municipal People’s Congress recently held an enlarged meeting to study the spirit of the Ninth Plenary Session of the Twelfth Shanghai Municipal Committee. Huang Lixin, Director and Secretary of the Party Committee of the Shanghai Municipal People’s Congress, chaired and delivered a speech at the meeting, but the report did not specify the exact date of the meeting.
Huang Lixin has not had any public activities since at least July 27, 2026, and as of August 25, she has been unusually out of sight for over four weeks. The reason for her absence is currently unknown; it is unclear whether it is due to health reasons or political factors.
According to her public resume, Huang Lixin, born on August 30, 1962, in Suqian, Jiangsu, graduated in July 1983 with a major in electromechanical irrigation from Jiangsu Agricultural College. She has held various positions in the Jiangsu Water Resources system, including Deputy Director of the Engineering Management Office of the Jiangsu Water Resources Department, Deputy Director of the office of the Jiangsu Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters, Assistant to the Director General of the Water Resources Department, and Executive Deputy Director of the Office of the Jiangsu Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters. In May 2000, Huang Lixin was promoted to Director and Party Secretary of the Jiangsu Water Resources Department, concurrently serving as Deputy Commander of the Provincial Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters.
In February 2003, at the age of 41, Huang Lixin was appointed Deputy Governor of Jiangsu Province, becoming the youngest female Deputy Governor in the history of the Chinese Communist Party at that time. In December 2007, she became a member of the Standing Committee of the Jiangsu Provincial Party Committee and Deputy Governor. In December 2011, Huang Lixin also served as Party Secretary of the Wuxi Municipal Committee of the Chinese Communist Party; in March 2012, she resigned from her position as Deputy Governor. On January 25, 2015, Huang Lixin was appointed Party Secretary of Nanjing City after serving as Party Secretary of the city. She became the first woman Party Secretary of Nanjing City since the founding of the People’s Republic of China. In October 2016, she moved to the Jiangsu Provincial Government as Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee and Executive Deputy Governor. In July 2017, Huang Lixin was promoted to Deputy Secretary of the Jiangsu Provincial Party Committee. On January 29, 2018, she assumed the position of Chairman of the Jiangsu Provincial Political Consultative Conference, advancing to the rank of a department-level official. In January 2022, Huang Lixin was transferred to the position of Chairman of the Zhejiang Provincial Political Consultative Conference and Party Secretary. In December 2023, she was again reassigned to serve as Secretary of the Party Group of the Standing Committee of the Shanghai Municipal People’s Congress, and on January 24, 2024, she became Director of the Standing Committee of the Shanghai Municipal People’s Congress.
In recent years, the Jiangsu officialdom has been undergoing continuous purges. Officials from Wuxi and Nanjing, where Huang Lixin previously served, have been investigated, including many officials who were her subordinates, deputies, or partners during her tenure.
For example, Xie Hui, Party Secretary and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Nanjing Urban Construction Investment Holding (Group) Co., Ltd., voluntarily surrendered on August 11, 2026. Xie Hui was promoted to Deputy Director of the Nanjing City Urban Management Bureau in June 2014, while Huang Lixin served as Party Secretary of Nanjing from 2015 to 2016. Xie Hui was later appointed Deputy Director of the Nanjing City Transportation Bureau in December 2015.
Long Xiang, Party Secretary and Director of the Standing Committee of the Nanjing Municipal People’s Congress, fell from office in April 2025; on August 11, 2026, he was sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve. During Huang Lixin’s term as Party Secretary of Nanjing from 2015 to 2016, Long Xiang served as Deputy Party Secretary of the Nanjing Municipal Party Committee and was her deputy for nearly two years.
Additionally, three months ago on May 11, 2026, Zhu Haisheng, former Deputy Director of the Jiangsu Water Resources Department and a level-one inspector, was investigated. Zhu Haisheng had a long-standing connection with Huang Lixin at the Jiangsu Water Resources Department. From May 2000 to February 2003, when Huang Lixin served as Director of the Jiangsu Water Resources Department, Zhu Haisheng was Deputy Director and later Director of the Office of the Jiangsu Water Resources Department, serving as her chief of staff for nearly three years.
Following Zhu Haisheng’s investigation, several officials in the Jiangsu Water Resources system were subsequently investigated. Zhong Yue, former Party Committee member and Chief Engineer of the Yancheng Water Resources Bureau, was investigated on May 25, 2026. Zhang Jianhua, Director of the Water Conservancy Office of the River and Lake Long-Term Management Department of the Jiangsu Water Resources Department and a level-one researcher, was investigated on June 18, 2026. Tang Jun, former Party Committee Secretary and Chairman of the Suqian Water Group Co., Ltd., Huang Lixin’s hometown company, was investigated on July 3, 2026.
In the past year, there have been significant personnel changes in the higher echelons of the Chinese Ministry of Water Resources. Since 2026, over ten senior-level water resources officials have been reported to have fallen from grace, including Zhu Haisheng, former Deputy Minister of Water Resources, Tian Xuebin, former Deputy Minister of Water Resources in Anhui Province, Wang Rongxi, former Director of Water Resources in Zhejiang Province, Jiang Ruhua, former Deputy Director of Water Resources in Sichuan Province, and Zhu Zehua, Party Secretary and Director of the Dujiangyan Water Resources Development Center.