On June 2, 2026, Xie Xuelong, a member of the Standing Committee of the Loudi Municipal Committee and Executive Deputy Mayor of Hunan Province, was taken down from his position. Xie Xuelong had previously served as the mayor and party secretary of Lianyuan City under the jurisdiction of Loudi City. Lianyuan City in Loudi is the hometown of Yi Lianhong, a senior official who fell from grace four months ago.
Since 2025, there has been a continuous purge of officials in Hunan Province, with at least 169 officials under investigation. More than a dozen provincial and ministerial-level officials from Hunan or working in Hunan have been removed from their positions.
According to a notification from the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and the National Supervisory Commission on the website of Hunan Provincial Commission for Discipline Inspection and Supervision, Xie Xuelong is suspected of serious violations of discipline and law and is under investigation.
Xie Xuelong, a woman from Lengshuijiang City under the Loudi Municipality in Hunan, born in November 1971, graduated from Hunan First Normal University. She has held various positions in Loudi City, including Deputy Secretary and Secretary of the Communist Youth League of Lengshuijiang City, Deputy Chairwoman and Party Group Member of the Women’s Federation of Loudi City. From June 2006 to January 2021, she held various positions in Lianyuan City, such as member of the Standing Committee, secretary of the Discipline Inspection Commission, Deputy Secretary of the City Committee, Mayor, and Secretary of the City Committee. From April 2020 to January 2022, she was a member of the Party Group and Deputy Director of the Standing Committee of the People’s Congress of Loudi City, serving as the Minister of the United Front Department of the Loudi City Committee from October 2021 to December 2022, and as a member of the Standing Committee and Deputy Mayor of the Loudi City Committee from December 2022.
It is worth noting that Yi Lianhong, a senior official who fell from grace four months ago, is also from Lianyuan City under Loudi City in Hunan. Xie Xuelong had long been working in Yi Lianhong’s hometown of Lianyuan City and Loudi City.
Following Yi Lianhong’s downfall, the media exposed corruption within the Yi family, highlighting his son Yi Shiwei, who was known for his extravagant lifestyle and is considered one of the “Seven Princes” of the officialdom in Hunan.
Since 2025, officials from Hunan, including Yi Lianhong, have been investigated and removed from their positions, such as Fan Yanjiang, former Deputy Secretary and Principal of the First High School of Loudi City (April 24, 2026), Liu Songcong, Party Committee Member and Deputy Director of the Livestock, Aquatic Products and Agricultural Machinery Affairs Center of Loudi City (April 22, 2026), Liang Juwei, Party Secretary and Director of the Highway Construction and Maintenance Center of Loudi City (November 10, 2025), Deng Zhihong, former Deputy Secretary and Director of the Market Supervision Administration of Loudi City (September 29, 2025), Yang Xinkang, Party Group Member and Deputy Director of the Development and Reform Commission of Loudi City (June 18, 2025), Zhu Mansi, Party Secretary and Chairman of Lou
di City Water Industry Co., Ltd. (March 31, 2025), Li Jinsong, Deputy Minister of the Organization Department of the Loudi City Committee (January 19, 2025), and Liu Jie, Secretary of the Lianguan City Committee (January 22, 2025).
According to the official website of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, more than ten provincial and ministerial-level officials from Hunan or working in Hunan have been removed from their positions since 2025. Besides Yi Lianhong, others include:
– Jiang Chaoliang, former Secretary of the Hubei Provincial Committee (removed from office on February 21, 2025; from Miluo City, Yueyang, Hunan)
– Zhou Derui, member of the Tianjin Municipal Committee and Minister of the Organization Department (removed from office on March 13, 2025; from Qidong County, Hengyang City, Hunan)
– Xu Xianping, former member of the party group and deputy director of the National Development and Reform Commission (under investigation on March 27, 2025; from Longhui County, Shaoyang City, Hunan)
– Jin Xiangjun, Deputy Secretary of the Shanxi Provincial Committee and Governor (removed from office on April 12, 2025; from Jianghua County, Yongzhou City, Hunan)
– Wu Lan, Secretary of the Party Group and Deputy Director of the Standing Committee of the Hunan Provincial People’s Congress (removed from office on October 9, 2025; from Tongliao City, Inner Mongolia)
– Zhang Yaoxue, former member of the party committee and president of Central South University (under investigation on October 17, 2025; from Lixian County, Changde City, Hunan)
– Ye Hongzhuan, former member of the party group and deputy director of the Standing Committee of the Hunan Provincial People’s Congress (under investigation on December 3, 2025; from Longshan County, Xiangxi Prefecture, Hunan)
– Guo Xueyi, member of the party committee and vice president of Central South University (removed from office on December 27, 2025; from Wangcheng District, Changsha City, Hunan)
– Hu Henghua, Deputy Secretary of the Chongqing Municipal Committee and Mayor (removed from office on March 20, 2026; from Hengyang County, Hengyang City, Hunan)
– Zhou Liang, Director of the China Banking Regulatory Commission (removed from office on March 24, 2026; from Yongzhou City, Hunan)
While officials from Hunan or working in Hunan at the provincial and ministerial level have been successively removed from office, a major cleanup is underway in the Hunan officialdom. From January 2025 to June 2, 2026, the Hunan Provincial Commission for Discipline Inspection and Supervision has reported that 169 officials have been investigated, including 125 officials who fell from grace in 2025 and 44 officials who have been removed from their positions in the past five months.
In addition to Xie Xuelong, a member of the Standing Committee of the Loudi Municipal Committee and Executive Deputy Mayor, who was taken down on June 2, 2026, ten officials from Hunan were investigated intensively from May 18 to June 1, including Mao Yunhong, member of the Party Group and Secretary-General of the People’s Congress of Huaihua City (June 1, 2026), Chen Jihua, second-level researcher at the Environmental Protection Inspection Office of the Provincial Ecological Environment Protection Department of Hunan Province (June 1, 2026), Tang Chaohui, Deputy Secretary of the Party Group and Deputy Director of the Housing and Urban-Rural Development Bureau of Shaoyang City (June 1, 2026), Feng Xiaoming, former Party Secretary and Director of the Public Resource Trading Center of Hengyang City (May 28, 2026), Zhou Anwei, former Deputy Secretary and Deputy Director of the People’s Congress of Changsha County (May 28, 2026), Cai Mingke, former Party Committee Member and Deputy Director of the Civil Affairs Bureau of Yiyang City (May 28, 2026), Tang Nengwu, former member of the Standing Committee and Secretary-General of the Yiyang City Committee (May 26, 2026), Zhong Xingwang, former Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee and Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Xiangtan Cooperative General Society (May 20, 2026), Zhang Han, Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee and Deputy Director of the Hongjiang District Political Consultative Conference of Huaihua City ( May 20, 2026), and Zheng Xiang, Secretary of the Xupu County Party Committee (May 18, 2026).