On August 31, the Chongqing Municipal Commission for Discipline Inspection announced that Lan Qinghua, a member of the Chongqing Municipal Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) and secretary-general, is suspected of “serious violations of discipline and laws” and is currently under investigation. Lan Qinghua is a former subordinate of Chen Min’er, the current Party Secretary of Tianjin. Several former subordinates of Chen have recently fallen from power, leading to analysis suggesting that Chen Min’er may be caught in the whirlpool of internal power struggles within the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
Public records show that Lan Qinghua, born in November 1966 in Dazu, Chongqing, has been working in Chongqing for a long time. He started his career in the Communist Youth League system, serving as Deputy Secretary and then Secretary of the Youth League Committee at Chongqing University. He later held positions such as member of the Communist Youth League Chongqing Municipal Committee and member of the Party Committee at Chongqing University, before becoming Secretary of the Party Committee at the Chongqing Statistical Bureau and Director of the Bureau.
In March 2018, Lan Qinghua was appointed Secretary of the Party Committee and Director of the Chongqing Local Taxation Bureau, and in June of the same year, he became Deputy Secretary and Director of the Chongqing Municipal Taxation Bureau’s Joint Party Committee under the State Taxation Administration, advancing to the rank of department-level cadre. In December 2018, he was appointed Secretary of the Bishan District Committee of Chongqing, and from September 2021 to July 2024, he served as Director of the Chongqing Municipal Commission of Economy and Information Technology. In 2024, he became Director of the Office of the Chongqing CPPCC and Secretary of the Party Committee of the Office. In January 2025, he took on the roles of member of the CPPCC Party Committee, secretary-general, Director of the Office, and Secretary of the Party Committee of the Office.
From his resume, it can be seen that Lan Qinghua’s career advancement coincided mainly with Chen Min’er’s tenure as Party Secretary of Chongqing from July 2017 to December 2022.
It is noteworthy that several former subordinates of Chen Min’er from his previous governance in Guizhou and Chongqing have recently been implicated, leading to speculation about his own future.
On August 29, Tang Dezhi, Vice Chairman of the Guizhou Provincial Committee of the CPPCC, was announced to have been implicated. Tang Dezhi had previously served as Secretary-General of the Provincial Government and Director of the Office during Chen Min’er’s tenure in Guizhou.
Ahead of the Beidaihe Meeting, central inspection teams were dispatched to Guizhou, Chongqing, and Tianjin and will remain there through the end of September. Subsequently, officials in these three provinces and municipalities have been falling from power one after another, with many being former subordinates or subordinates of Chen Min’er.
Also on August 29, Ye Tao, former Secretary of the Party Committee and Director of the Poverty Alleviation and Development Office of Guizhou Province, and Cao Qingyao, Counselor to the Chongqing Municipal Government, were investigated. Both individuals were previously favored subordinates of Chen Min’er.
Commentator Li Yanming, in an article for Epoch Times, pointed out that Chen Min’er is a close ally of Xi Jinping from the Zhejiang faction, but his career was obstructed during the 20th National Congress of the CCP, failing to ascend to the Politburo Standing Committee or even serve as Vice Premier of the State Council. The upcoming Fourth Plenary Session and the subsequent personnel arrangements of the next CCP leadership are closely related. At the crucial age of 65, Chen Min’er finds himself at a key juncture in his career.
Li Yanming suggested that the mass downfall of Chen Min’er’s former subordinates in Guizhou and Chongqing indicates turbulent undercurrents in CCP politics, positioning Chen Min’er at the center of a political whirlpool involving high-level power struggles and personnel maneuvers within the CCP.