The former Executive Deputy Secretary of the Financial Work Committee of the Chongqing Municipal Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, Ruan Lu, was investigated on April 2, 2026. Ruan Lu had been in charge of financial affairs in Chongqing for over a decade. Three of Ruan Lu’s former leaders, including the former Secretary of the Chongqing Municipal Committee Sun Zhengcai, former Executive Deputy Mayor of Chongqing Wu Cunrong, and Chongqing Mayor Hu Henghua, have all been taken down.
On April 2, 2026, according to the news from the Chongqing Municipal Discipline Inspection Commission and Supervisory Commission on the website of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and the National Supervisory Commission of the Chinese Communist Party, Ruan Lu, the Deputy Director of the Economic Committee of the Chongqing Municipal Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, is under investigation for “serious violations of discipline and law”.
Public information shows that Ruan Lu, born in January 1965 in Jiangjin, Chongqing, was appointed as the Deputy Director of the Chongqing Financial Work Office and concurrently Chairman of the Chongqing Stock Transfer Center by at least 2010. From around 2013 to 2025, he successively held positions such as Director of the Chongqing Financial Work Office (Party Committee Secretary), Deputy Director of the Chongqing Municipal Committee Financial Commission Office (in charge of daily work, equivalent to the level of bureau chief), Deputy Secretary of the Chongqing Municipal Committee Financial Work Committee (in charge of daily work), Director of the Chongqing Local Financial Management Bureau (concurrently), and Executive Deputy Secretary of the Chongqing Municipal Committee Financial Work Committee.
Ruan Lu had been in charge of financial affairs in Chongqing for over a decade from 2013 to 2025, under the leadership of three Chongqing Municipal Committee Secretaries: Sun Zhengcai (November 2012 to July 2017), Chen Min’er (July 2017 to December 2022), and Yuan Jiajun (December 2022 to present); and four Chongqing Mayors: Huang Qifan (November 2009 to December 2016), Zhang Guoqing (December 2016 to December 2017), Tang Liangzhi (January 2018 to December 2021), and Hu Henghua (December 2021 to March 2026).
Among them, Sun Zhengcai fell from power in July 2017 and was sentenced to life imprisonment in April 2018. Hu Henghua was just taken down from the position of Chongqing Mayor on March 20, 2026.
During Hu Henghua’s tenure as Chongqing Mayor from December 2021 to March 2026, Ruan Lu served as the Executive Deputy Secretary of the Chongqing Municipal Committee Financial Work Committee and was responsible for financial affairs.
According to reports, on June 27, 2024, the Chongqing-Hong Kong Financial Cooperation and Exchange Symposium was held in Hong Kong, with Chongqing Mayor Hu Henghua leading officials, including Ruan Lu, the Executive Deputy Director of the Chongqing Municipal Committee Financial Office, signing 14 key financial cooperation projects.
On that day, China Pacific Insurance Group and the Chongqing Municipal Government signed a strategic cooperation agreement to jointly build the Western Financial Center in Hong Kong. Chongqing Mayor Hu Henghua, Secretary-General of the Municipal Government Luo Qingquan, Chairman of China Pacific Wang Sidong, and General Manager Yin Zhaojun witnessed the signing. Ruan Lu, the Executive Deputy Director of the Chongqing Municipal Committee Financial Office, and Zhu Jie, Deputy General Manager of China Pacific, respectively represented both sides in the agreement.
After Hu Henghua was taken down, mainland media revealed that his downfall may be related to family-style corruption, with his family members allegedly profiting in the areas of finance, infrastructure, real estate, and engineering bidding.
In addition, Ruan Lu had connections with the fallen senior official Wu Cunrong in Chongqing’s political arena.
On March 20, 2026, Wu Cunrong, former Party Secretary and Chairman of the Shanxi Provincial Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, was sentenced to life imprisonment in the first instance for bribery. Wu Cunrong was taken down from his position in December 16, 2024.
Wu Cunrong served as a member of the Standing Committee of the Chongqing Municipal Committee of the Chinese Communist Party and Executive Deputy Mayor of Chongqing from March 2017 to January 2021, overseeing the daily work of the municipal government, finance, state-owned assets, and tax-related financial work. At that time, Ruan Lu held positions such as Deputy Director of the Chongqing Municipal Committee Financial Commission Office and Director of the Chongqing Local Financial Management Bureau and reported to Wu Cunrong.
Public reports show that Wu Cunrong and Ruan Lu appeared together on several occasions at the same government events or leadership groups. For example, in 2019, during the signing ceremony of the strategic cooperation agreement between China Reinsurance Group and the Chongqing Municipal Government, Wu Cunrong attended as the Executive Deputy Mayor and spoke while Ruan Lu, representing the Chongqing Financial Supervision Bureau, signed the agreement. In 2020, in the leadership group for the construction of the Chongqing Western Land-Sea New Passage, Wu Cunrong was the deputy leader, and Ruan Lu participated as a member (Director of the Chongqing Financial Supervision Bureau).