On May 27, 2026, it was reported that Li Wei, a high-ranking official of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and a member of the Jiangxi Provincial Committee, as well as the Minister of the United Front Work Department, was investigated and removed from office. Just a month earlier, his deputy, Yu Zhiyong, the Deputy Minister of the United Front Work Department of the Jiangxi Provincial Committee, was also placed under investigation.
Li Wei previously worked at a military industrial group, and two former department-level leaders he worked with at the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council (SASAC), Jiang Jiemin and Xiao Yaqing, have also been investigated. Li Wei served as the deputy to Han Jun, who was the Governor of Jilin Province at the time and the chief steward under Jing Junhai, the Secretary of the Jiangxi Provincial Committee.
The official report released by the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and the National Supervisory Commission on May 27, 2026, stated that Li Wei was suspected of serious violations of discipline and law and was under investigation.
According to publicized information, Li Wei’s last public appearance was on April 29, 2026, where he attended two United Front Work-related meetings in Jiangxi Province. Following this, he was absent from several important meetings.
On April 27, 2026, Yu Zhiyong, Deputy Minister of the United Front Work Department of the Jiangxi Provincial Committee, and Secretary and Director of the Provincial Ethnic and Religious Affairs Bureau, was removed from office.
Yu Zhiyong, born in October 1968 in Linchuan, Fuzhou City, Jiangxi Province, had held various positions before becoming the Deputy Minister of the United Front Work Department of the Jiangxi Provincial Committee. Li Wei and Yu Zhiyong worked together for seven months since Li Wei was transferred to the Jiangxi Provincial Committee from the Jilin Provincial Committee in September 2025.
During his time at the SASAC, Li Wei went through various positions, including being a Deputy Director at the Office of the Board of a central state-owned enterprise, before being promoted to Vice Director of the Office, then Director, and later Director at the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission.
In recent years, many high-ranking executives in the CCP military and military-industrial complex have faced investigations. The changing of leadership in the military industrial group has been quite frequent, with several key positions undergoing replacement or investigation.
Han Jun, a former Deputy Governor of the Jilin Province and Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, was dismissed from his position at the end of April 2026. He was succeeded by Zhang Zhu, the Deputy Secretary of the Xinjiang Party Committee and Secretary of the Urumqi Municipal Committee.
Han Jun, born in December 1963 in Gaoqing County, Zibo City, Shandong Province, is a Ph.D. in agriculture. Prior to his dismissal, he had also served as a Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs.
Jing Junhai, who was transferred to the position of the Secretary of the Jiangxi Provincial Committee from the Governor of Jilin province in November 2020, had a rapid rise in the political arena of Shaanxi province before his transfer. He has been closely associated with Xi Jinping’s family and the political landscape of Shaanxi Province.
With the ongoing speculation about internal power struggles within the CCP, the downfall of these officials like Li Wei, Yu Zhiyong, Han Jun, and Jing Junhai sheds light on the continuous turmoil and power shifts within the party’s leadership.