On February 3rd, Li Weiwei, a “tigress” at the level of female director in the Chinese Communist Party, was sentenced to life imprisonment for accepting bribes totaling more than 1.17 billion yuan. Footage from CCTV news showed Li Weiwei appearing in court with white hair.
According to reports, from 2008 to 2024, Li Weiwei used her positions as a member of the Standing Committee of the Hunan Provincial Party Committee, Minister of the United Front Work Department, member of the Standing Committee of the Hunan Provincial Party Committee, Secretary of the Political and Legal Affairs Committee, Party Secretary and Chairman of the Hunan Provincial Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, and Deputy Director of the Population Resources and Environment Committee of the Fourteenth National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference to provide assistance to others in project contracting, business operations, administrative approvals, and other matters, directly or through others, illegally accepting property totaling more than 1.17 billion yuan.
Li Weiwei’s actions constituted the crime of accepting bribes and she was sentenced to life imprisonment.
On July 29, 2024, Li Weiwei was sacked while in office.
Born in Ningxiang, Hunan in March 1958, Li Weiwei joined the Chinese Communist Party in July 1976.
In December 1981, Li Weiwei was appointed as a teacher at the Second Middle School of Zhuzhou City, Hunan Province. After teaching at the school for only two years, she was transferred to the position of Deputy Secretary of the Zhuzhou Municipal Committee of the Communist Youth League of China; and two years later, she was promoted to be the Secretary of the Zhuzhou Municipal Committee of the Communist Youth League, ranking at the department level.
In November 2006, at the age of 48, Li Weiwei was promoted to become a member of the Standing Committee of the Hunan Provincial Party Committee and Minister of the United Front Work Department, becoming the youngest deputy ministerial-level cadre in Hunan. Nine years later, she became the Secretary of the Political and Legal Affairs Committee of the Hunan Provincial Party Committee.
In January 2016, Li Weiwei was appointed as the Chairman of the Hunan Provincial Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference. In March 2023, she became the Deputy Director of the Population Resources and Environment Committee of the Fourteenth National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, until her downfall.
On January 24, 2025, official reports confirmed that Li Weiwei had been expelled from the Party and dismissed from public office. The report accused her of engaging in widespread corruption involving her family and illegally accepting substantial amounts of property.
Chinese media noted that Li Weiwei’s rapid ascent from a regular teacher to a department-level cadre in just four years could be described as “rocket-like” promotion.