Corruption Scandals Continue to Plague Big Data System in Guizhou, China
In the past two years, corruption scandals have rocked the big data system in Guizhou province, China, and the situation is still ongoing. Kang Keyan, the former chairman of the state-owned enterprise Cloud Guizhou Group, was reported to have been removed from office yesterday (April 29th).
The Guizhou big data project was a “political achievement” of Chen Min’er, a close confidant of Xi Jinping, who had personally endorsed the project. Analysts believe that the widespread corruption in the Guizhou big data sector reflects the failure of Chen Min’er’s political project, with many of his former associates being implicated in corruption cases, possibly related to power struggles within Xi’s inner circle.
According to the Discipline Inspection Commission of the Communist Party of China in Guizhou, Kang Keyan, the deputy director of the Guizhou Provincial Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference and the Committee of Overseas Chinese Affairs, is suspected of “serious violations of discipline and law” and is currently under investigation.
Public records show that Kang Keyan, a 62-year-old native of Pan County, Guizhou, had held various positions in the province for many years, including serving as the Deputy Director of the Guiyang High-tech Zone Management Committee in 2008. Afterward, he held posts such as Secretary and Director of the Guiyang Municipal Industry and Information Technology Committee, Director and Party Committee Secretary of the Guiyang National Economic Development Zone Management Committee, as well as Secretary of the Huaxi District. In 2015, he was promoted to Deputy Director of the Guizhou Economic and Information Commission, entering the big data system.
In 2016, the Guizhou Big Data Development and Management Bureau was established, with Kang Keyan serving as the Deputy Director. Following the formal establishment of Cloud Guizhou in early 2018, he became the first Secretary of the Party Committee and Chairman of the Group. In 2023, at the age of 60, Kang Keyan was transferred to the Guizhou Provincial Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference until his recent investigation.
Tang Renwu, a professor at the Institute of Government Management at Beijing Normal University, stated in an interview with Lianhe Zaobao that Guizhou had been involved in big data projects for over a decade, leading to a significant amount of project funding and opportunities for corruption. He believed that Kang Keyan was likely involved in corrupt practices given the context of the Guizhou big data sector.
During the period of the “13th Five-Year Plan” (2016-2020), Guizhou positioned big data as a crucial development strategy, resulting in the establishment of the Guizhou Provincial Big Data Development Bureau as China’s first provincial-level big data bureau. By 2020, the number of big data enterprises in Guiyang and Gui’an New District exceeded 5,000. Cloud Guizhou, with a registered capital of 1.7 billion yuan, was officially established in February 2018 as a large state-owned enterprise at the provincial level.
The Guizhou big data project was initiated by Chen Min’er during his tenure in Guizhou as a “political achievement,” with Chen Min’er being recognized as a close confidant of Xi Jinping. Serving as the Deputy Secretary of the Communist Party of China Guizhou Provincial Committee in February 2012, he later became the Governor in January 2013, and the Party Secretary of the Communist Party of China Guizhou Provincial Committee on July 31, 2015, and was re-elected on April 20, 2017 before being transferred to Chongqing in July 2017.
During Chen Min’er’s five years in Guizhou, he heavily promoted the big data industry. In 2014, the Big Data Industry Development Leading Group was established in Guizhou, with then-Governor Chen Min’er as the group leader.
Xi Jinping visited Guizhou to support the big data initiative during the national sessions in 2014, endorsing the province’s efforts in this sector. When he inspected Guiyang in June 2015, he visited the Guiyang Big Data Application Exhibition Center, stating that the development of big data in Guizhou was indeed reasonable.
However, in recent years, corruption scandals have emerged in the Guizhou big data sector, and the senior officials who have been removed from office were all former associates of Chen Min’er.
Ma Ningyu, the former Secretary of the Party Committee and Director of the Guizhou Big Data Bureau, was investigated during his tenure as Mayor of Guiyang in 2024. Ma was succeeded by Jing Yaping, the second Director of the bureau, and Li Gang, the second Secretary of the Party Committee, who were both investigated in February and May of last year, respectively.
According to the Discipline Inspection Commission of Guizhou Province, Jing Yaping was accused of engaging in power-for-money transactions, accepting large sums of illegal money, and using government servers for Bitcoin mining, resulting in the discovery of 327 Bitcoins, amounting to a significant sum. Based on market prices, the value of the Bitcoins is estimated to be around 270 million yuan.
Xu Hao, who succeeded Kang Keyan as the Secretary of the Party Committee and Chairman of Cloud Guizhou, was investigated in September 2025. Yang Yunyong, the former Chairman of Cloud Guizhou Big Data Trading Co., Ltd., was investigated in April 2025. Liu Lan, the Vice Mayor of Guiyang City, responsible for the big data work and ranking fourth in the municipal government, was removed from office in February 2025.
Following the exposure of corruption in Guizhou’s big data sector, Xi Jinping conducted a two-day inspection in Qian Dongnan Prefecture and Guiyang City in March 2025, marking his third visit to Guizhou since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China in 2012. However, unlike his previous visits where he examined big data projects, this time his itinerary was shortened from three days to two.
Commentator Li Linyi suggested that the widespread corruption in Guizhou’s big data sector signifies the failure of Chen Min’er’s political achievement and indirectly challenges Xi Jinping, who is often criticized as the “Emperor of Unfinished Projects.” This may explain why Xi’s inspection did not focus on the big data industry as before.
Li Linyi believed that Xi’s another close associate, Cai Qi, has been promoting an official campaign to rectify the “achievement-oriented” mentality in the political field, and the continuous downfall of Chen Min’er’s former associates in Guizhou might be linked to power struggles within Xi’s circle.
Since Chen Min’er left Guizhou, the big data industry in the province has been overseen by two successive Party Secretaries of the Provincial Committee, Sun Zhigang and Chen Yiqin. After Sun Zhigang stepped back, he was sentenced to death with reprieve in October 2024 for accepting bribes amounting to over 813 million yuan. The current Party Secretary of Guizhou Province is Xu Lin, a former associate of Xi Jinping in Shanghai.