The current member of the Chinese Communist Party’s Political Bureau, Ma Xingrui’s former secretary, Guo Yonghang, who once served as the Secretary of the Zhuhai Municipal Party Committee, has been taken down, followed by a series of related officials falling from grace. The latest news is that the former chairman of Gree Group, Zhou Leiwei, has voluntarily turned himself in. Reports indicate that after Guo Yonghang’s case broke out, Zhou Leiwei was once summoned for questioning.
Zhuhai authorities announced on April 28th that Zhou Leiwei, Secretary of the Communist Party Work Committee of Zhuhai Economic and Technological Development Zone and Deputy Secretary of the Jinwan District Committee, is suspected of “serious violations of discipline and law, and has voluntarily turned himself in,” and is currently under investigation.
According to several sources cited by financial news website Cai Xin, after the Guo Yonghang incident in late March, the “relevant departments” had a conversation with Zhou Leiwei. A person close to Zhou Leiwei said, “He quickly returned to his work position,” but in early April, Zhou Leiwei chose to “voluntarily turn himself in.”
Public records show that Zhou Leiwei is 56 years old and has previously served as Vice President of Zhuhai Construction Bank, Chairman of Zhuhai Airshow Company, a member of the Jinwan District Committee, and Deputy District Mayor in charge of district affairs. Zhou Leiwei served as the chairman and legal representative of Gree Group from 2016 to 2024.
Zhou Leiwei’s term with Gree Group coincided with a crucial period in Zhuhai’s implementation of so-called state-owned enterprise reform.
Earlier, Guangdong Provincial Political Consultative Conference Vice Chairman Guo Yonghang was investigated on March 27th. He was removed from the position of Secretary of the Guangzhou Municipal Committee at the end of last year and transferred to the Political Consultative Conference in January of this year.
Previously, Cai Xin website quoted informed sources reporting that Guo Yonghang was taken away on March 24th, and on that day, leaders of the Zhuhai State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission were also asked to assist in the investigation. Guo Yonghang’s investigation may be related to his time serving in Zhuhai.
Reports state that during Guo Yonghang’s tenure in Zhuhai, he promoted state-owned enterprise reform in the city and led the transfer of shares of Gree Electric Appliances. In 2019, Li Congshan, then Vice Director of the Zhuhai Municipal Government Office, became the Director of the Municipal State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission and facilitated Gree Group’s transfer of 15% of Gree Electric Appliances’ shares to Gao Heng Capital for 41.662 billion yuan, making the Zhuhai State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission no longer the actual controlling shareholder of Gree Electric Appliances.
Following this, the Zhuhai state-owned enterprises faced pressure to fill the gap in revenue scale, and Li Congshan led Gree Group in massive investments. At that time, many private business owners hoped for cooperation, and Guo Yonghang instructed state-owned enterprises to “handle it at their discretion,” but some projects were later found to have gone awry. After Guo Yonghang left Zhuhai, many local state-owned enterprises found themselves in dire straits.
Li Congshan was taken down in July 2024, and a month before he was taken away for investigation, Wu Aicun, former Secretary of the Party Committee and Director of the Zhuhai State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission, had already been investigated. On April 2nd, Li Wenji, Deputy Secretary-General of the Zhuhai Municipal Committee, Secretary of the Party Committee, and Director of the Zhuhai State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission, also fell from grace. This means that all three successive leaders of the Zhuhai State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission have been taken down.
While the Guo Yonghang case is related to Zhuhai, the outside world is more concerned that Guo Yonghang may also be victimized by the power struggle at the higher levels of the Chinese Communist Party. Guo Yonghang used to be the secretary of Ma Xingrui, the current member of the Political Bureau, during his time leading Shenzhen, and the two were also fellow Shandongese.
After being removed from his position as Xinjiang’s Party Secretary in July 2025, Ma Xingrui was absent from important meetings and officially taken down on April 3rd this year. Public opinion points out that aside from issues of family corruption, Ma Xingrui’s case also involves corruption in the aerospace system, as well as in Guangdong and Xinjiang official circles.