On September 23, 2026, a press conference was held by the State Council Information Office of the Chinese Communist Party, where the Minister of Civil Affairs, Li Changguan, and Deputy Minister of Civil Affairs, Hu Haifeng, along with other officials, presented the situation. Several mainland Chinese media outlets reported on Hu Haifeng’s speech, sparking external attention.
It is currently a period of personnel reshuffling before the 21st National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party. The selection committee for the “Two Committees” (Central Committee and Central Disciplinary Inspection Commission) is conducting inspections. Hu Haifeng, who is not currently a member of the “Two Committees”, lacks experience as a top-ranking official in a region and has not overseen a major economic market. Securing a position among the approximately 500 seats in the “Two Committees” is challenging, but there is also an opportunity.
Leading up to the Fifth Plenary Session of the Chinese Communist Party, Hu Haifeng’s career path once again became a topic of public discussion.
Hu Haifeng, the son of former General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party Hu Jintao, was born in November 1972 and is about to turn 54 years old. He has held positions such as General Manager of Tsinghua Tongfang Vision Technology Co., Ltd., Party Secretary of Tsinghua Holdings Co., Ltd., and Party Secretary of the Tsinghua Yangtze River Delta Research Institute. After the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, when Hu Jintao stepped down and Xi Jinping took office, Hu Haifeng entered politics in May 2013, serving as Deputy Party Secretary of Jiaxing City, Zhejiang Province. In March 2014, he also took on the role of Party Secretary of the Political and Legal Affairs Committee of Jiaxing City, becoming the Mayor of Jiaxing City in March 2016. In July 2018, he was promoted to Party Secretary of Lishui City, Zhejiang Province. In January 2024, he was transferred to the position of Deputy Minister of Civil Affairs and promoted to the rank of deputy minister.
During his nearly six years in Lishui City, Hu Haifeng was repeatedly rumored to be promoted to positions of deputy ministerial authority in Fujian Province, Mayor of Dalian, Mayor of Qingdao, Party Secretary of Taizhou City, and Party Secretary of Xi’an City. However, these rumors of promotion never materialized until January 2024, when he was reassigned to the relatively marginal position of Deputy Minister of Civil Affairs.
At the 20th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party on October 22, 2022, the Youth League faction was “annihilated.” During the closing ceremony, former CCP leader Hu Jintao was forcibly removed from the venue in front of the public eye. Subsequently, Weibo completely banned discussions related to both Hu Jintao and Hu Haifeng, who was a delegate to the 20th National Congress of the CCP.
After the Third Plenum of the 20th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party in July 2024, rumors about the health and power crisis of CCP leader Xi Jinping continued. At the same time, prominent figures from the Youth League, Hu Chunhua and Hu Haifeng, made high-profile appearances, attracting public attention.
The Lujiazui Forum on June 18, 2025, in Shanghai saw the unveiling of the “China Capital Market Association” by members of the Political Bureau of the Chinese Communist Party and Shanghai Party Secretary Chen Jineng, Deputy Director of the Central Financial Office Wang Jiang, Chairman of the China Securities Regulatory Commission Wu Qing, Shanghai Mayor Gong Zheng, and Deputy Minister of Civil Affairs Hu Haifeng. Of these officials, Chen Jineng is a deputy national level official, while Wang Jiang, Wu Qing, and Gong Zheng are all at the ministry level. Only Hu Haifeng holds the position of deputy minister, attracting external attention.
In November 2025, after Xi’an Municipal Party Secretary Fang Hongwei was removed from office, there were rumors on X Platform that Hu Haifeng would take over as member of the Standing Committee of the Shaanxi Provincial Party Committee and Party Secretary of Xi’an City. In 2026, various self-media accounts on X Platform have successively spread rumors that Hu Haifeng will be promoted to Deputy Secretary of the Gansu Provincial Party Committee, Standing Committee Member of the Gansu Provincial Party Committee, and Party Secretary of Lanzhou City and Deputy Secretary Provincial Party Committee in Jiangxi Province. However, the rumors of Hu Haifeng’s promotion have repeatedly failed to materialize and have yet to be realized.
Simultaneously, over the past six months, there have been frequent personnel changes among senior officials at the Ministry of Civil Affairs, with Hu Haifeng’s colleagues being transferred or promoted.
On June 30, 2026, the 62-year-old Party Committee Secretary and Minister of Civil Affairs Lu Zhiyuan was reassigned as the Party Committee Secretary of the All-China Federation of Trade Unions. Deputy Minister of Civil Affairs Li Changguan was promoted to Party Committee Secretary of the Ministry of Civil Affairs. On July 28, Lu Zhiyuan also took on the additional roles of Vice Chairman and First Secretary of the Secretariat of the All-China Federation of Trade Unions. On August 28, Li Changguan officially became the Minister of Civil Affairs.
Lu Zhiyuan was transferred from Deputy Party Secretary of the Shandong Provincial Party Committee to the Party Committee Secretary of the Ministry of Civil Affairs in October 2023, being promoted to Minister of Civil Affairs two months later, three months ahead of Hu Haifeng’s tenure in the Ministry of Civil Affairs. Li Changguan, born in October 1968, was transferred from Vice Chairman of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region Government to Deputy Minister of Civil Affairs in October 2024, nine months after Hu Haifeng’s appointment to the Ministry of Civil Affairs.
On August 10, 2026, the State Council of the People’s Republic of China announced personnel changes: Sun Shuopeng was appointed as Deputy Minister of Civil Affairs, while also dismissing Sun Shuopeng from the position of Chairman of the China National Committee on Aging and appointing Jiang Wei (female) as the new Chairman of the China National Committee on Aging. The China National Committee on Aging is a deputy-ministerial level institution under the State Council, managed by the Ministry of Civil Affairs.
On September 20, 2026, Liu Chunlei, a member of the party group of the Ministry of Civil Affairs and head of the Discipline Inspection and Supervision Team of the State Supervision Commission of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection stationed at the Ministry of Civil Affairs, was transferred to a new position as a member of the Standing Committee and Secretary of the Discipline Inspection Commission of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. Born in October 1973, Liu Chunlei was transferred from the Ninth Supervision and Inspection Division of the State Supervision Commission of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection to the Ministry of Civil Affairs in July 2024, and after two years and two months of service at the Ministry of Civil Affairs, he was reassigned.
Furthermore, on April 29, 2026, Deputy Minister of Civil Affairs Liu Zhen Guo was transferred to Deputy Secretary of the Communist Party Committee of Heilongjiang Province, Head of the United Front Work Department of the Provincial Party Committee, and Deputy Secretary of the Party Group of the Provincial Political Consultative Conference. Born in November 1970, Liu Zhen Guo had long served at the Ministry of Civil Affairs; in July 2024, he became a member of the party group of the Ministry of Civil Affairs and Chairman of the China National Committee on Aging, and in April 2025, he was promoted to Deputy Minister of Civil Affairs.
Hu Haifeng, Liu Chunlei, and Liu Zhen Guo, all born in the 1970s, and have held the position of deputy ministerial level in the Ministry of Civil Affairs for a longer period compared to other officials.
Currently, the Party Committee Secretary and Minister of Civil Affairs is Li Changguan, with three Deputy Ministers being Hu Haifeng, Shu Huihao, and Sun Shuopeng. Among them, Hu Haifeng is the youngest in age, but has served at the Ministry of Civil Affairs longer than the other three.
For the past eight years, Hu Haifeng’s career has been full of setbacks, with rumors of promotion repeatedly falling through, closely tied to power struggles within the senior ranks of the Chinese Communist Party and becoming a symbol of Xi Jinping’s crackdown on the Youth League faction.
During the past two years, amid rumors of Xi Jinping’s power crisis, there has been a significant turnover in officials at the Organization Department, with many key figures from the Xi Jinping camp being dismissed or removed from office. Recently, officials not belonging to the Xi faction, especially those affiliated with the Wen Jiabao and Li Keqiang faction of the State Council, have taken up senior provincial and ministerial positions, reflecting the turbulent political situation in Zhongnanhai.
As the Fifth Plenary Session approaches, there have been frequent personnel changes among senior officials at the Ministry of Civil Affairs, leading to speculations if the next step will involve Hu Haifeng being transferred or promoted. This will be one of the leading indicators of the power struggles and personnel movements within the senior ranks of the Chinese Communist Party.
（Epoch Times, October 6, 2026）