On January 20, 2026, there was an unusual absence of senior officials during the opening ceremony of a special seminar for provincial and ministerial-level officials related to the Fourth Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Among those absent were CCP Political Bureau member and Vice Chairman of the Central Military Commission Zhang Youxia, and Minister of the Organization Department Shi Taifeng. The next day, on January 21, Shi Taifeng was also notably absent from a high-level meeting of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC).
According to official reports, Vice Premier He Lifeng was attending the Davos Forum in Switzerland from January 19 to 22, 2026. As for the reasons behind the absences of Ma Xingrui, Zhang Youxia, and Liu Zhenli, they remain unclear.
Moving to January 21, 2026, the CPPCC held a symposium to analyze the macroeconomic situation of 2025. CCP Political Bureau Standing Committee member and Chairman of the CPPCC National Committee, Wang Huning, chaired the meeting, while Vice Chairman of the CPPCC Wang Yong presided over it. Several other CPPCC officials attended the meeting, except for Vice Chairman and Deputy Party Secretary Shi Taifeng.
Previous years’ symposiums on the macroeconomic situation were chaired by Shi Taifeng, the Vice Chairman of the CPPCC and Deputy Party Secretary, at the annual meetings of the CPPCC in 2024 and 2025.
It was a week earlier, on January 14, 2026, when Shi Taifeng, Vice Chairman and Deputy Party Secretary of the CPPCC, attended and spoke at the party meeting of the CPPCC.
The consecutive absence of Shi Taifeng from these high-level official events has raised questions whether it is due to health reasons or political issues, with the precise reasons remaining unclear.
Shi Taifeng, born in September 1956 in Yushé, Shanxi Province, entered the Law Department of Peking University in September 1978. He is an alumnus of Peking University alongside prominent figures such as Premier Li Keqiang and Hu Chunhua.
Having served in various positions at the Central Party School of the CCP, Shi Taifeng was promoted to the Deputy Director of the Central Party School in July 2001, elevating his rank to deputy ministerial level. He had interactions with high-ranking CCP officials such as Hu Jintao, Zeng Qinghong, and Xi Jinping.
In September 2010, Shi Taifeng was appointed as a member of the Standing Committee of the Jiangsu Provincial Committee of the CCP and Minister of the Organization Department. During his tenure, Li Yuanchao, who had affiliations with both the Youth League faction and princelings, was the Minister of the Organization Department. Li Yuanchao had previously served as Deputy Secretary and Secretary of the Jiangsu Provincial Committee.
In August 2011, Shi Taifeng became the Deputy Secretary of the Jiangsu Provincial Committee of the CCP and Minister of the Organization Department, then rose to the position of Deputy Secretary of the Jiangsu Provincial Committee in December 2011. From January 2016 to April 2017, he held the position of Deputy Secretary and Governor of the Jiangsu Province. Li Qiang, who served as the Secretary of the Jiangsu Provincial Committee of the CCP from June 2016 to October 2017, was his partner during this period. Li Qiang currently serves as a member of the CCP Political Bureau Standing Committee and Premier of the State Council.
In 2017, at the age of 61, Shi Taifeng was appointed as the Secretary of the Ningxia Autonomous Region Committee of the CCP. After two and a half years, in October 2019, he was transferred to the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region to serve as the Secretary of the Party Committee.
During the 20th National Congress of the CCP in October 2022, Shi Taifeng was promoted to Political Bureau member, Secretary of the Secretariat, Minister of the United Front Work Department, Deputy Chairman of the CPPCC (ranked first), and Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee of the National Committee of the CPPCC.
In early April 2025, Shi Taifeng and Li Ganjie, both members of the CCP Political Bureau, exchanged roles, with Shi Taifeng assuming the position of Minister of the Organization Department while Li Ganjie became the Minister of the United Front Work Department. Nonetheless, Shi Taifeng continued to hold the positions of Vice Chairman and Deputy Party Secretary of the CPPCC.