Five former members of the Chinese Communist Party’s Politburo Standing Committee were absent from the New Year’s Eve gathering before the Chinese New Year, including former Vice Premier Zeng Peiyan, for reasons unknown. Of note, Zeng Peiyan, a close subordinate of the former CCP leader Jiang Zemin, recently saw the organization he long helmed, the “Super Think Tank” – the China International Economic Exchange Center, undergo a purge.
On February 14, 2026, the CCP authorities held the Chinese New Year gathering at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. According to the live footage reported by CCTV, 21 former members of the Politburo Standing Committee attended the gathering, including names like Wang Lequan (82 years old), Hui Liangyu (82 years old), Liu Qi (84 years old), Cao Gangchuan (91 years old), Wang Gang (84 years old), Liu Yandong (81 years old), Li Yuanchao (76 years old), Ma Kai (80 years old), Sun Chunlan (76 years old), Li Jianguo (80 years old), Fan Changlong (79 years old), Meng Jianzhu (79 years old), Guo Jinlong (79 years old), Wang Chen (76 years old), Liu He (74 years old), Yang Jiechi (76 years old), Yang Xiaodu (73 years old), Chen Quanguo (71 years old), Guo Shengkun (72 years old), Zhang Chunxian (73 years old), and Liu Qibao (73 years old).
Five former members of the Politburo Standing Committee were absent from the gathering, namely Tian Jiyun (97 years old), Chi Haotian (97 years old), Wang Zhaoguo (85 years old), Wu Yi (88 years old), and Zeng Peiyan (88 years old).
Among the absentees, Wang Zhaoguo (85 years old), Wu Yi (88 years old), and Zeng Peiyan (88 years old) are younger than Cao Gangchuan (91 years old) who attended the gathering. Whether the absence of the three individuals from the gathering was due to health reasons or other factors remains unknown at present.
Noteworthy is the absence of Zeng Peiyan from the gathering, who previously served as the Chairman of the China International Economic Exchange Center (referred to as the CIIEC). The CIIEC was renowned as a “Super Think Tank.”
According to reports from The Paper, as of January 2026, the CIIEC’s operational oversight unit had been transferred from the National Development and Reform Commission of the CCP to the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.
On January 17, 2026, the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences held a work symposium on the CIIEC in Beijing, aiming to promote strict discipline within the CIIEC.
Caixin website reported on February 14 that the recent change in the CIIEC’s oversight unit may be related to controversies arising from its years of collecting funds through commissions on local government projects and consultancy services, potentially not complying with regulations.
The CIIEC was once regarded as a “Super Think Tank” of the Chinese Communist Party that established a research fund with a membership fee of 500 million RMB, sourced from central and state-owned enterprises. Insiders revealed that the CIIEC housed the CIIEC Advisory Limited Company which “took on tasks externally, with local governments providing money on a significant scale.”
Reportedly, some retired high-ranking officials employed by the CIIEC have refunded the fees they received, with some cases involving significant amounts. Informants disclosed that some provincial-ministerial and bureau-level leadership within the CIIEC, designated as central management cadres, may no longer meet existing regulations.
Public records show that the CIIEC was established in 2009, with former Vice Premier of the CCP Zeng Peiyan as its founder, and a significant number of retired high-ranking officials holding positions as Vice Chairmen and Executive Directors.
Zeng Peiyan served as the Chairman of the CIIEC for a prolonged period starting in 2009 until March 2024 when Bi Jingquan took over as Chairman.
Bi Jingquan previously held positions such as Deputy Director of the National Development and Reform Commission, Deputy Secretary-General of the State Council, Director of the State Administration for Market Regulation, Party Secretary and Deputy Director of the State Administration for Market Regulation, and Deputy Director of the Economic Committee of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference. In May 2025, Bi Jingquan was investigated.
Zeng Peiyan, born in December 1938 in Shaoxing, Zhejiang Province, graduated from the Department of Radio Electronics at Tsinghua University. He was a senior schoolmate of former Politburo Standing Committee member Wu Bangguo and was also Tsinghua alumni with Hu Jintao, Zhu Rongji, Huang Ju, Wu Guanzheng, and Xi Jinping.
After graduating from Tsinghua University in 1962, Zeng Peiyan was assigned to the Shanghai Electrical Appliance Science Research Institute of the First Machinery Industry Ministry (referred to as the First Machinery Ministry) as a technician and later as the head of a research group. At that time, Jiang Zemin, who was 12 years older than him, had just been transferred from the Changchun First Automotive Factory to become the Deputy Director of the Shanghai Electrical Appliance Science Research Institute.
Having worked under Jiang Zemin for nearly two years, in 1964, Zeng Peiyan was transferred to Xi’an Switch Rectifier Factory of the First Machinery Ministry, where he served as a technician and group leader at the rectifier research office. He remained in Xi’an for 17 years during his tenure. From 1982 to 1984, he served as the Second Secretary and First Secretary of the Commercial Counselor’s Office at the Chinese Embassy in the United States.
Zeng Peiyan recalled in a written account that during his time in Xi’an, he had the opportunity to work closely with Jiang Zemin on two occasions. In 1970, the First Machinery Ministry held a conference in Shanghai where Jiang Zemin, Zeng Peiyan, and two others were assigned to prepare for the meeting; in 1971, the First Machinery Ministry organized an exhibition in Beijing where Jiang Zemin and Zeng Peiyan were later dispatched to prepare for the event.
In the fourth issue of The Investigative Magazine in 2013, it was reported that when Jiang Zemin served as the Deputy Director and Secretary-General of the State Administration for the National Import and Export, as well as the State Administration for Foreign Investment, he recommended Zeng Peiyan to serve as the Second Secretary and First Secretary at the Commercial Counselor’s Office of the Chinese Embassy in the United States. During Jiang Zemin’s tenure as Minister of the Electronics Industry Ministry from June 1983 to June 1985, Zeng Peiyan was appointed Director of the Office and Director of the Planning and Construction Department of the Electronics Industry Ministry. Zeng Peiyan was later promoted to Deputy Minister of the Electronics Industry Ministry.
Upon Jiang Zemin’s rise to power in 1989, Zeng Peiyan steadily climbed the ranks and held various key positions, including Deputy Secretary-General (Ministerial rank) of the CCP Central Finance and Economics Leading Group, Deputy Director, Director, and Party Secretary of the National Development and Reform Commission, Deputy Director of the Three Gorges Project Construction Committee of the State Council, and Director of the Office of the Leading Group for Western Development of the State Council. At the CCP’s Sixteenth National Congress in 2002, Jiang Zemin arranged for Zeng Peiyan to enter the Politburo, and in March of the following year, he became the Vice Premier of the State Council.
Both Zeng Peiyan and Zeng Qinghong were close confidants of Jiang Zemin. In the biography written by Kuhn, “The Jiang Zemin Biography,” it was mentioned that the two individuals – Zeng Qinghong and Zeng Peiyan – played crucial roles in supporting Jiang Zemin’s rule.
Former Politburo Standing Committee member and Secretary of the Chongqing Municipal Party Committee, Bo Xilai, was taken down in April 2012 and subjected to disciplinary action. In October 2012, Hong Kong media reported that Bo Xilai had confessed to anti-corruption authorities about the bribery of Jiang Zemin’s family members and close confidants.
According to sources familiar with Bo Xilai’s political career in Liaoning, during the handling of illegal fundraising cases, he embezzled up to 1 billion RMB, with a significant portion rumored to have been used for bribing Zhou Yongkang. At that time, Zhou Yongkang held positions as Minister of Public Security, State Councilor, Politburo Standing Committee member. With Zhou’s introduction, Bo successively bribed Jiang Zemin’s family members, Zeng Qinghong, Li Lanqing, Zeng Peiyan, thus garnering strong support from all five individuals during Bo’s movements between Beijing, entering the central government, and being dispatched to Chongqing.