The former member of the Guizhou Provincial Committee of the Chinese Communist Party and former secretary of the Bijie Municipal Committee, Wu Shenghua, was expelled from the Chinese Communist Party and removed from public office today (January 7th), according to official reports, citing his inadequate performance in resolving local debt. This is a rare accusation.
On January 7th, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection of the Chinese Communist Party and the National Supervisory Commission announced that Wu Shenghua, who was a member of the 20th Central Committee, former member of the Guizhou Provincial Committee, and former secretary of the Bijie Municipal Committee, is under investigation.
The official report stated that Wu Shenghua “failed to implement major decisions by the Party Central Committee on preventing and resolving local debt risks”, “associated with political fraudsters”, “sought personal gain for others in the selection and appointment of cadres and accepted bribes”, and was “negligent and lazy in governance”; “used his position for personal gain in the approval of mineral resource development and project contracting, and illegally accepted huge sums of money”, among other allegations.
The report indicated that Wu Shenghua is suspected of serious violations of duty and bribery crimes, resulting in his expulsion from the Chinese Communist Party, dismissal from public office, and prosecution.
Public records show that Wu Shenghua, born in October 1966 in Duyun, Guizhou, has worked in Guizhou for a long time. He has held various positions such as Deputy County Mayor, Executive Deputy County Mayor, Deputy Secretary of the County Party Committee in Luodian County, Secretary of the Guiding County Party Committee, Deputy Governor of Qiannan Prefecture, member of the Qiannan Prefecture Standing Committee, Deputy Governor of Qiannan Prefecture, Deputy Secretary of the Qiannan Prefecture Committee, and Secretary of the Political and Legal Affairs Committee. In 2016, he served as the acting governor of Qiannan Prefecture, and the following year he was confirmed in the position. In 2020, Wu Shenghua was promoted to Vice Governor of Guizhou Province, and then in April 2022, he became a member of the Guizhou Provincial Committee. In May of the same year, he was appointed as a member of the Guizhou Provincial Committee and Secretary of the Bijie Municipal Committee, but was removed from office on July 24th last year. He is a candidate member of the 19th and 20th Central Committees of the Chinese Communist Party.
According to reports from Chinese media outlet “Interface News,” Wu Shenghua is the first senior manager to be cited for “failing to effectively implement major decisions by the Party Central Committee on preventing and resolving local debt risks.” Previously, Li Huanting, a former first-level inspector at the Henan Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission, was cited for “failing to effectively implement major decisions by the Party Central Committee on preventing and resolving major financial risks.” However, it has not been clarified by the authorities when and during which period Wu Shenghua failed to implement major decisions.
Over the years, the massive debts incurred by local Chinese Communist Party governments have been a significant potential risk to their financial system. The Chinese government launched a 10 trillion yuan debt-for-equity swap plan in 2024 to ease the immense debt pressure on local governments.
On September 12, 2025, Chinese Finance Minister Lan Fo’an stated that by the end of 2024, the implicit debts of local governments amounted to 10.5 trillion yuan. This is the latest disclosed balance of local government implicit debt.
Implicit debt refers to debts incurred by local governments beyond the statutory government debt ceiling through direct borrowing or commitments to repay with fiscal funds and illegal provision of guarantees. Chinese data is often accused of being concealed, and foreign media have reported that local Chinese Communist Party implicit debts may amount to as much as 60 trillion yuan.
Chinese affairs expert Wang He wrote in Epoch Times that since 2020, the financial strength of local Chinese governments has been weakening, with the government debt ratio rising rapidly to 332% in 2022 (broad measure, including explicit debt and local government investment debts). Regions with the highest debt ratios such as Chongqing, Tianjin, Guizhou, Heilongjiang, Hubei, and Xinjiang, all have debt ratios exceeding 600%.
On November 3, last year, the Chinese Ministry of Finance announced the establishment of a new unit called the “Debt Management Division,” claiming to strengthen debt monitoring and supervision to prevent the risk of implicit debt.
Commentator Li Linyi stated that the establishment of a specialized debt unit by the Chinese Ministry of Finance to handle debt restructuring indicates that the local government debt, this “gray rhinoceros,” has made the authorities fearful. In recent years, the Chinese Communist Party has been trying to restructure debt, offering so-called comprehensive debt restructuring plans, but the results have been minimal, merely masking the numbers. The entire debt restructuring process is actually a power struggle and infighting between the central and local governments, turning debt restructuring into a political farce, wherein debt could potentially crush not only the mighty but also the Chinese Communist Party regime.