The Consulting Committee Meeting of the School of Economics and Management at Tsinghua University in 2026 was held in Beijing on October 13th. The Tsinghua News Network did not mention the current honorary chairman, Wang Qishan, in its report on the following day, causing speculation among overseas observers. It was not until October 19th that the news of Wang Qishan meeting and hosting representatives in the evening of the 13th was released.
According to the Tsinghua News Network report on October 19th, the 2026 annual meeting of the Consulting Committee of the School of Economics and Management at Tsinghua University was held on October 13th. This was the 27th annual meeting since the establishment of the committee, with 26 members in attendance.
Reportedly, on the afternoon of the 13th, Ding Xuexiang, a member of the Political Bureau Standing Committee of the Communist Party of China and Vice Premier of the State Council, met with representatives of the Consulting Committee of the School of Economics and Management at Tsinghua University in Beijing. In the evening of the same day, former Vice President of China and honorary chairman of the advisory committee of Tsinghua School of Economics and Management, Wang Qishan, met and hosted the representatives at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse.
On October 14th, the Tsinghua News Network relayed a Xinhua News Agency report stating that Ding Xuexiang met with representatives of the Consulting Committee of the School of Economics and Management at Tsinghua University on the 13th in Beijing, but the report did not mention Wang Qishan’s appearance.
On overseas social media platforms, many people doubted whether Wang Qishan would even make an appearance now. However, senior commentator Li Yanming analyzed for Dajiyuan that the news of Wang Qishan appearing might be delayed.
The Consulting Committee of the School of Economics and Management at Tsinghua University was established in October 2000, promoted by then-dean of the school and Premier of the Communist Party, Zhu Rongji. Zhu Rongji was appointed as the founding honorary chairman of the advisory committee, and Wang Qishan, former Vice President of China, succeeded Zhu Rongji as the honorary chairman of the advisory committee in October 2024. The current chairman of the advisory committee is Tim Cook, the CEO of Apple Inc.
In October 2024, during the annual meeting of the Consulting Committee of the School of Economics and Management at Tsinghua University, Ding Xuexiang met with committee representatives in the morning, while Wang Qishan met with them in the evening. However, the official website of Tsinghua University School of Economics and Management did not mention Wang Qishan when reporting Ding Xuexiang’s meeting with the representatives. By October 31st, the university’s website included news of Ding Xuexiang meeting the representatives and Wang Qishan appearing at the conference.
On October 16, 2025, the annual meeting of the Consulting Committee of the School of Economics and Management at Tsinghua University was held. He Lifeng, member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party and Vice Premier, met with committee representatives. Wang Qishan met and hosted the committee representatives in the evening. It wasn’t until October 21st that the official website of Tsinghua University School of Economics and Management reported on Wang Qishan hosting the committee representatives.
During Xi Jinping’s first term, Wang Qishan served as the Secretary of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, using the guise of “anti-corruption” to help Xi Jinping fight against political opponents. However, in Xi’s second term, Wang Qishan held the ceremonial position of Vice President of the country before retiring completely after five years. In recent years, many of Wang Qishan’s former associates have been purged. There are rumors that he is being effectively detained in Beijing. Nonetheless, on August 17th, Wang Qishan appeared at a memorial for former Communist Party leader Jiang Zemin, along with some retired elders. Once again, he met with the representatives of the Consulting Committee of the School of Economics and Management at Tsinghua University as per usual.
China affairs specialist Li Linyi stated that Wang Qishan has only had his wings clipped but Xi Jinping is unlikely to fully take him down because the repercussions would be too significant and may introduce uncertainties into Xi’s leadership. In fact, apart from Zhou Yongkang, Xi Jinping hasn’t taken action against any other current state-level officials. The true situation of Wang Qishan is still unclear to the outside world. As for the rumors of his soft detention, it is known that all current or retired state-level officials in the Communist Party are under the surveillance control of the Central Security Bureau led by Cai Qi, which can be described as a semi-soft detention state.