On May 20, 2026, Duan Qing, former deputy head of the Shaanxi branch of the Agricultural Bank of China (AgBank), was placed under investigation. This comes five years after Duan’s former superiors, Cheng Jinqian and Han Zhen, also officials at the Shaanxi branch of AgBank, were ousted for corruption and misconduct.
According to an announcement by the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection of the Communist Party of China on May 20, Duan Qing, former member of the Party Committee and deputy head of the AgBank Shaanxi branch, is suspected of serious violations of discipline and law and is now being investigated. Public records show that Duan has held various positions within the AgBank system over the years, including as the General Manager of the Corporate Business Department of the Shaanxi branch, and later as the member of the Party Committee and deputy head of the branch.
Five years ago, a corruption scandal hit the AgBank Shaanxi branch, leading to the downfall of three senior executives. Cheng Jinqian, former deputy secretary of the Party Committee, discipline inspection secretary, and deputy head of the branch, was investigated in December 2019. Starting from July 2012, Cheng had served as a member of the Party Committee and discipline inspection secretary of the Shaanxi branch, among other roles, until his retirement in November 2019.
Han Zhen, another former deputy secretary of the Party Committee and deputy head of the Shaanxi branch, was put under investigation in September 2020. Han had a long career within AgBank, with roles in Inner Mongolia and Shaanxi branches, before facing corruption charges.
In October 2020, Gao Weidong, former General Manager of the Real Estate Credit Department of the Shaanxi branch, was also investigated for misconduct. Gao had previously held positions in various branches of AgBank in different capacities.
Cheng Jinqian, Han Zhen, and Gao Weidong had previously worked alongside Duan Qing at the AgBank Shaanxi branch, with Cheng and Han being Duan’s superiors during his tenure as the General Manager of the Corporate Business Department.
Official reports allege that Cheng engaged in corrupt practices, intervened in credit approval processes, personnel selection, job transfers, campus recruitment, and received substantial bribes. Han was accused of engaging in profit-making activities against regulations, owning shares in non-public companies, abusing his lending authority for personal gain, and receiving large sums of money from clients.
The Agricultural Bank of China is one of the five largest state-owned commercial banks in the country. In recent years, several high-ranking officials within the AgBank system have faced investigations and penalties for corruption. These include Xu Xilong, former chief expert and head of the Shenzhen branch, who was sentenced to fifteen and a half years in May 2026, among others. Chen Yuanliang, former member of the Party Committee and deputy head of the Hebei branch, was expelled from the Party in February, and Feng Jianlong, former chief expert and Party Secretary and president of the Zhejiang branch, was also expelled from the Party in January. Additionally, Wang Guobiao, former deputy secretary of the Party Committee and deputy head of the Shenzhen branch, was subjected to disciplinary actions.