Before the Fifth Plenary Session of the Chinese Communist Party, the officialdom continues to be turbulent. This evening, official news revealed that Huang Qifan, former Deputy Secretary of the Chongqing Municipal Party Committee and former Mayor, has fallen from power, confirming earlier rumors.
According to the evening news from CCTV, Huang Qifan, former Deputy Secretary of the Chongqing Municipal Party Committee and former Mayor, is suspected of “serious violations of discipline and law” and is currently undergoing disciplinary review and supervision investigation by the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection of the Chinese Communist Party and the National Supervisory Commission.
Public records show that Huang Qifan, born in May 1952, is from Zhuji, Zhejiang. Huang Qifan worked in Shanghai in his early years. In 2001, he became the Deputy Mayor of Chongqing, then in 2002, a member of the Chongqing Municipal Party Committee and Deputy Mayor, in 2009 acting Mayor of Chongqing, and in 2010 Mayor of Chongqing. He stepped down in 2016 and later served as the Deputy Director of the Finance and Economic Committee of the 12th National People’s Congress.
Epoch Times received a tip-off earlier that Huang Qifan, former Mayor of Chongqing, had been taken away. He was supposed to give a speech at Tsinghua University recently, but ended up not being able to attend, and had someone fill in for him as a last-minute replacement.
Huang Qifan currently serves as the Vice Chairman of the China International Economic Exchange Center, chairman of the Industry Transformation Advisory Committee of the Internet Industry Research Institute of Tsinghua University, co-chairman of the RAND International Think Tank Expert Committee, and academic advisor to the China Finance 40 Forum (CF40).
Hong Kong’s Ming Pao reported on October 13 that the “New Quality Productivity Empowering Hangzhou Enterprises for High-Quality Development Forum” sponsored by the Hangzhou Branch of the Ningbo Bank was scheduled to take place at a five-star hotel in Hangzhou on the 26th of this month, with former Chongqing Mayor Huang Qifan invited as the keynote speaker. However, it was suddenly announced to be “cancelled due to unforeseen reasons.”
The 74-year-old Huang Qifan is a controversial figure, having risen through the ranks in the Shanghai officialdom in his early years and being an associate of Wu Bangguo, a former member of the Jiang faction’s Politburo Standing Committee. In January 2010, Huang Qifan became Mayor of Chongqing, with Bo Xilai serving as the Secretary of the Municipal Party Committee at the time.
During the 2010 National People’s Congress, then Mayor of Chongqing Huang Qifan described his relationship with Bo Xilai to the media, saying, “Bo and I have a tacit understanding and get along well, having a pleasant and enthusiastic relationship.” The Chongqing incident erupted in early 2012, leading to Bo Xilai’s downfall. However, Huang Qifan was not affected by Bo’s case and continued in his position.
Following Bo Xilai’s ouster, Huang Qifan collaborated with Sun Zhengcai. Huang Qifan was appointed as the Deputy Director of the Finance and Economics Committee of the National People’s Congress in February 2017, before being demoted to a member of the Chongqing Municipal Political Consultative Conference on January 18, 2018. Subsequently, Huang Qifan was unsuccessful in his bids to become a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference or a deputy to the National People’s Congress.
During Xi Jinping’s trusted aide Chen Min’er’s governance of Chongqing, he publicly criticized Bo Xilai and Sun Zhengcai multiple times. Bo Xilai was accused of “building a kingdom of his own,” while Sun Zhengcai was labeled as “lazy and deceitful” by the authorities. Bo and Sun were openly accused of “conspiring to usurp the party’s leadership.” At that time, commentary articles in Hong Kong media suggested that Huang Qifan’s current predicament is somewhat attributed to the lingering effects of Bo and Sun’s actions.