On September 28, 2026, Lu Xin, a female senior official of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) at the deputy ministerial level and former Deputy Minister of Education, and member of the party committee, was officially announced to be under investigation.
Lu Xin, 71 years old, graduated from Liaoning University of Finance and Economics (now Northeast University of Finance and Economics). She has held various positions such as Deputy Director, Executive Deputy Director, Director of the Liaoning Provincial Finance Department, Deputy Governor, member of the party committee and Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Education, Deputy Director of the Central Xinjiang Work Coordination Office, and part-time professor at Tsinghua University.
It is worth noting that Lu Xin’s career has intersected with key figures from Xi Jinping’s faction, the Tsinghua Gang, such as Chen Xi and Chen Jining. After Lu Xin’s investigation was announced, Tsinghua University quickly deleted previous reports on Lu Xin from its official website, leading to speculation about the underlying reasons.
From April 2009 to January 2016, Lu Xin served as Deputy Minister of Education of the CCP for nearly seven years. During this period, Chen Xi was appointed as Deputy Minister of Education and Deputy Party Secretary in November 2008 by Xi Jinping, who was then the Party Secretary of Tsinghua University, until September 2010. Lu Xin and Chen Xi worked together at the Ministry of Education for about a year and a half.
Subsequently, from September 2010 to April 2011, Chen Xi was transferred to Liaoning Province as Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, serving for about eight months.
Chen Xi was a classmate of Xi Jinping during their time at Tsinghua University and served as Xi’s “personnel manager” after the 18th National Congress of the CCP. Following the 19th National Congress, Chen Xi, who was no longer a member of the Political Bureau or the Central Committee, delayed his resignation as Minister of the Organization Department until April 2023 and remained the President (Dean) of the CCP Central Party School (National Academy of Administration) until June 2026.
Upon Chen Xi’s departure, several commentators from self-media outlets alleged that Chen Xi was demoted from a deputy national level official to deputy ministerial or even deputy bureau level due to his involvement in the case of Wei Xiaodong, a fellow native of Fujian and Chairman of the Beijing Municipal People’s Political Consultative Conference.
According to a report on the Tsinghua University official website in May 2013, Lu Xin, then Deputy Minister of Education, visited the Tsinghua University PBC School of Finance on May 20, 2013, to conduct research and inspect the school’s infrastructure, and was briefed on the development of the school. Chen Jining, the President of Tsinghua University at the time, and Vice President Cheng Jianping accompanied the research and attended the discussion.
After the meeting, Chen Jining appointed Lu Xin as a part-time professor at the Tsinghua University PBC School of Finance. Lu Xin took a group photo with Chen Jining and others.
Following the announcement of Lu Xin’s investigation on September 28, 2026, Tsinghua University promptly removed the above report from its website on the same day.
In a report on the Tsinghua University official website in May 2014, on the morning of May 10, 2014, the inaugural “Tsinghua Wudaokou Global Financial Forum” was opened at the Xinquinghua Auditorium, coinciding with the establishment ceremony of the Tsinghua University National Financial Research Institute. Lu Xin, the Deputy Minister of Education at the time, and Tsinghua University President Chen Jining delivered speeches at the opening ceremony.
On the day of Lu Xin’s announcement of investigation, reports related to Lu Xin in the aforementioned reports on Tsinghua University were swiftly deleted.
Chen Jining, a key figure of the Xi Jinping faction at Tsinghua University, has benefited from Chen Xi’s continuous promotion throughout his career.
From 2002 to 2008, Chen Xi served as Secretary of the CCP Committee at Tsinghua University (deputy ministerial level). During this period, Chen Jining was promoted to Secretary of the CCP Committee and Vice President of Tsinghua University in February 2006 and was subsequently appointed as Executive Vice President and Secretary-General of Tsinghua University in December 2007. In February 2012, Chen Jining became the President of Tsinghua University, the youngest president since 1949.
From April 2013 to April 2023, Chen Xi served as Executive Deputy Minister and Minister of the Organization Department. During this time, Chen Jining was successively promoted to Minister of the Ministry of Environmental Protection, Deputy Secretary and Mayor of the Beijing Municipal Party Committee, and in October 2022, he was promoted to a member of the Political Bureau and concurrently served as Secretary of the Shanghai Municipal Party Committee.
In recent years, with the health and power crisis of CCP leader Xi Jinping, political rumors have been rampant. Chen Jining, 62, is considered a hot candidate for the Standing Committee of the 21st National Congress of CCP, and there have been rumors that he may even become a candidate to succeed Xi Jinping. However, with Xi’s close confidant Chen Xi losing power, variables have emerged in Chen Jining’s career.
After Lu Xin’s investigation was announced, Tsinghua University quickly deleted previous reports on Lu Xin from its official website, indicating the sensitivity of the Tsinghua Gang to Lu Xin’s downfall. As the Fifth Plenary Session of the 21st National Congress of the CCP approaches, a critical moment for high-level personnel dynamics, Lu Xin’s investigation becomes another signal of Chen Xi’s decline; whether it will affect Chen Jining’s career trajectory remains to be seen.