In Wuhan, Hubei Province, the notorious “kingpin” Huang Dafa, who had been operating for over twenty years, was arrested in 2023 and has now, on April 21, 2026, been sentenced to death in the first trial. Mainland Chinese media reported that Huang Dafa had taken advantage of urban village reconstruction opportunities to conduct large-scale forced demolitions for profit. Netizens have called for the arrest of Huang Dafa’s backers. Public information indicates that the key period of Huang Dafa’s criminal activities coincided with the tenure of various Wuhan Municipal Party Secretaries, with the critical period being during the tenure of Ruan Chengfa.
On April 21, Hubei Huanggang Intermediate People’s Court announced that on April 20, Huang Dafa was sentenced to death for organizing and leading a criminal organization, intentional injury, fraud, and 21 other charges, with all his personal assets being confiscated. The other 11 defendants were sentenced to prison terms ranging from 13 years to 2 years and 2 months, along with fines or confiscation of all their personal assets.
Huang Dafa had previously served as the Party Secretary of Hongshan Township in Wuhan and chairman of the Wuhan Jianghong Group.
According to mainland media reports, Huang Dafa, born on December 27, 1961, in Wuhan, joined the army in September 1996 and later served as the Party Secretary of Jinggang Village in Hongshan Township, Wuhan, and concurrently as the chairman of Jianghong Group (now dissolved). He established a real estate development company through Jinggang Village in the early years, utilizing idle land for real estate development. On June 5, 2001, Huang Dafa registered and founded Hubei Chenggong Real Estate Development Co., Ltd.
According to the “Financial World” magazine report in May 2016, Huang Dafa had controlled nearly ten rural areas in the Nanhu region over the years, using various illegal means to monopolize land during urban village reconstruction projects for his profit.
Between 2001 and 2016, Huang Dafa successfully secured dozens of well-known projects, ranging in value from several million to tens of millions of yuan, with over a hundred projects in total. With Hubei Chenggong Real Estate Development Co., Ltd. leading, his companies, covering various real estate-related fields, formed an industrial closed-loop. By 2016, just seven of his property companies alone were making profits exceeding 200 million yuan annually.
During this time, Huang Dafa continued to recruit thugs from society, operating in both legal and illegal activities, including violent forced demolitions and suppressing competitors.
In July 2014, Huang Dafa and his brother Huang Dacai were accused of illegally occupying farmers’ private land during urban village reconstruction, seizing residential land from urban residents, and forcibly acquiring Renfu Pharmaceutical Factory on Xiongchu Avenue in Wuhan, leaving dozens of employees homeless. In February 2016, the Wuhan Ailey Music School in Banqiao Village was forcibly demolished, with over two hundred thugs armed with knives, harpoons, steel pipes, and even firearms participating in the destruction, resulting in one death and dozens of injuries.
After the exposure of the aforementioned violent forced demolition incidents, which shocked the nation, Huang Dafa himself remained unscathed. According to a long-time police officer quoted by mainland media, only Huang Dafa could mobilize two hundred people for forced demolitions and destruction in Wuhan because he had strong backing that no one could control.
It is rumored that Huang Dafa’s wealth had already exceeded 1 billion yuan, and he had managed to obtain Hong Kong residency. Both Huang Dafa and Xiong Daxi, who were arrested together, held Hong Kong identity cards. Xiong had purchased a single-family home on Shallow Water Bay Road for about 496 million Hong Kong dollars in 2018, and he sold it to Huang Dafa for 450 million Hong Kong dollars in April 2023. The following day, when the relevant documents were registered, he was arrested. Hong Kong scholar and current affairs commentator Zhao Shanxuan believed that such a large transaction had triggered the nerve of the Chinese Communist Party.
In May 2023, the “kingpin” Huang Dafa was arrested. Ironically, before his arrest, the authorities had promoted Huang Dafa as the key figure in turning the fortune of Jinggang Village from deficit to surplus, calling him the leader who had led the village to prosperity. Jianghong Group, under Huang Dafa’s leadership, was even packaged as a “well-known enterprise in Hubei” and one of the “top ten market players.” Huang Dafa himself had also served as a deputy to the Wuhan People’s Congress.
At the time of Huang Dafa’s arrest, mainland netizens questioned who had been the “protective umbrella” allowing such a “mafia” boss to operate for so long.
After Huang Dafa was sentenced to death, mainland netizens once again called for the arrest of the official figures protecting Huang: “Every mafia group has a protective umbrella, so where is his?” “The real threat is not the evil gangs but the officials who continue to support them in doing evil!” “If no one was behind him, how could he have committed crimes for so long?” “Throughout history, officials and bandits are on the same side.” “The urban management is the government’s thug, and the mafia is the police department’s thug. Without protection, try running a mafia group.” “Why haven’t the hidden protectors been caught?”
Public records show that during the period of Huang Dafa’s major crimes and violent forced demolitions that caused social concern (from 2014 to 2016), Ruan Chengfa held office. Mainland reports have indicated that in November 2011, both Ruan Chengfa and Huang Dafa became deputies to the Wuhan People’s Congress.