Recently, it was reported that Kong Shaoxun, the Deputy Head of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC), has been reassigned to the position of Deputy Secretary of the Gansu Provincial Committee and Secretary of the Provincial Government Party Group. Back in 2022 at the closing ceremony of the 20th CPC National Congress, Kong Shaoxun received orders from the CPC leader Xi Jinping to lead the staff in removing Hu Jintao from the venue, which sparked widespread attention and speculation.
According to a report on the official website of the Gansu Provincial Government on August 29, 2026, Kong Shaoxun, who previously held the position of Deputy Secretary of the Central Committee, and Secretary of the Provincial Government Party Group, presided over an expanded meeting of the provincial government party group that day.
This announcement indicates that Kong Shaoxun, the Deputy Head of the Central Committee, has been reassigned to the positions of Deputy Secretary of the Gansu Provincial Committee and Secretary of the Provincial Government Party Group, likely to succeed as the Governor of Gansu, promoting to a full ministerial level.
The news of Kong Shaoxun’s transfer has stirred public discussion. Independent commentator Cai Shenkun expressed on a social media platform that Kong Shaoxun, who was ordered at the 20th CPC National Congress to remove Hu Jintao from the venue, has now been parachuted into Gansu to assume the role of Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Committee and Secretary of the Provincial Government Party Group, officially ascending to a ministerial level and likely to secure a position as a Central Committee member at the 21st Congress.
On another social media account, a user named “Finding” posted that “Kong Shaoxun, the Deputy Head of the Central Office, has been transferred to Gansu to serve as the Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Committee; this person is Ding Xuexiang’s brother. This is the same person who removed Hu Jintao.”
Media personality Sato Peng posted on a platform that Kong Shaoxun, who personally escorted Hu Jintao out of the venue at the 20th CPC Congress in October 2022, is set to take over as the Governor of Gansu from Ren Zhenhe. Xi Jinping’s decision to appoint Kong Shaoxun as the governor of Gansu could be seen as humiliation towards Hu Jintao. Gansu holds significant memories for Hu Jintao, being a place where he spent a substantial part of his youth. Reports had previously suggested that Hu Haifeng might go to Gansu and potentially take over Ren Zhenhe’s position as governor, but Kong Shaoxun’s sudden appointment seems to have disrupted those plans, implying that even if Hu Haifeng goes to Gansu, he may have to continue at a lower rank.
Nearly four years ago, during the 20th CPC National Congress, Kong Shaoxun’s compliance with Xi Jinping’s orders to remove Hu Jintao from the venue had attracted considerable attention.
On the morning of October 22, 2022, during the closing session of the 20th CPC Congress, Hu Jintao, who was seated next to Xi Jinping, was forcibly removed from the venue by a staff member, with Kong Shaoxun closely following behind.
Based on photos taken by reporters from “Abe Sayi Bao” and videos captured by journalists from Asian News Channel and Russia Today, it was observed that Hu Jintao, seated beside Xi, was inspecting documents on the table. At one point, Li Zhanshu, seated to Hu’s left, pushed the documents under a red ballot folder and then directly took the documents away from Hu’s sight, attracting the attention of Xi Jinping on Hu’s right. After Xi’s signal, Kong Shaoxun, Xi’s personal secretary and Deputy Head of the Central Committee Office, promptly came over and left after receiving instructions from Xi.
Subsequently, a masked staff member approached. After around 20 seconds of Xi pointing to the documents, the staff member tried to take Hu Jintao away. Hu resisted the attempt, reaching for the documents on Xi Jinping’s desk instead. Xi Jinping exerted pressure on Hu’s hand and after the staff member whispered to Hu a few times, Hu finally stood up but hesitated to leave immediately, attempting to sit back down multiple times. Eventually, Hu Jintao left the venue, and as he passed by Xi Jinping, he briefly conversed with him and patted the shoulder of Li Keqiang seated to Xi’s right before leaving under the guard of the staff member and Kong Shaoxun.
A tweet by Dake Kang, an Associated Press journalist based in Beijing, described that according to the footage captured by them, the older of the two individuals who escorted Hu Jintao had the name “Kong Shaoxun” on his work badge. After leading Hu away, Kong Shaoxun returned to the scene and reported the situation to Xi, who then gave further instructions before Kong Shaoxun left.
Following this incident, discussions related to Hu Jintao and his son Hu Haifeng, who is a delegate to the 20th CPC Congress, were completely blocked on the Sina Weibo platform.
During Hu Jintao’s decade-long leadership tenure, his actual power was overshadowed by the former CPC leader Jiang Zemin. At the 18th CPC Congress, Hu Jintao stepped down, transferring all power to Xi Jinping. The incident of Hu Jintao being forcefully removed from the 20th CPC Congress has drawn global media attention and speculation.
At the 20th CPC Congress in 2022, the Youth League faction was dismantled, with not only Hu Jintao being visibly removed, but also Political Bureau members Li Keqiang and Wang Yang retiring, and Hu Chunhua being ousted from the Political Bureau. Li Keqiang tragically passed away just seven months after stepping down as Premier of the State Council on October 27, 2023, fueling ongoing rumors till present.
On the afternoon of May 5, 2024, Xi Jinping paid a state visit to France. Commentator Cai Shenkun posted a photo on a social media platform on May 7 showing several CPC officials accompanying Xi on the trip, including Cai Qi, Wang Yi, and Kong Shaoxun. Commenting on the positioning of Kong Shaoxun, Cai Shenkun indicated the increasing trust placed on Kong Shaoxun by Xi Jinping.
Public records reveal that Kong Shaoxun, born in February 1969 in Zhongning County, Zhongwei City, Ningxia, studied at the Economics Department of Renmin University of China from 1987 to 1991. He held various positions such as Deputy Division Chief of the Office of the Yinchuan Municipal Government, Deputy Chief and Chief of the Secretariat Division of the Party Committee Office in Ningxia, Deputy Director and Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee Office, among others. In January 2009, he became a Standing Committee Member and Deputy Secretary of the Wuzhong Municipal Committee of the CPC in Ningxia.
In December 2009, Kong Shaoxun was appointed as Deputy Commander of the Shanghai World Expo 600-day Action City Management Command, involved in the preparation for the Shanghai World Expo. Ding Xuexiang was a Standing Committee Member and Secretary-General of the CPC Shanghai Municipal Committee at the time.
In December 2010, Kong Shaoxun began his tenure at the Central Committee Office of the CPC, holding various roles such as Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee of the Central Office, Secretary of the Disciplinary Committee, Director of the Personnel Department, Deputy Group Leader of the Poverty Alleviation Working Group, Deputy Head of the Central Committee Office and Secretary-General, among others. He served under four heads of the Central Committee: Ling Jihua (September 2007 to August 2012), Li Zhanshu (September 2012 to October 2017), Ding Xuexiang (October 2017 to March 2023), and Cai Qi (March 2023 to present).
Among them, Ling Jihua, Ding Xuexiang, and Cai Qi are all close associates of Xi Jinping. During Ding Xuexiang’s tenure as Head of the Central Committee, Kong Shaoxun made his first appearance as Deputy Head and Secretary-General on April 14, 2022.