In recent years, the ongoing anti-corruption campaign in Guangxi Autonomous Region following the ousting of the “Guangxi King” and Chairman of the Autonomous Region Government, Lan Tianli in May 2025, has led to a continued cleansing of officials in his hometown of Hechi City and the Guangxi political arena. Over the past month, more than twenty officials at the department level have been investigated, including Lan Tianli’s former secretary Tang Ning, former Hechi City Party Secretary Qin Chuncheng, and Hechi City Party Secretary Zhang Liansong.
On June 7, 2026, according to a report on the website of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection of the Communist Party of China and the National Supervision Commission, it was revealed that Zhang Liansong, a member of the Standing Committee and Secretary-General of the Hechi City Committee of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, is suspected of serious violations of discipline and law and is under investigation.
Public records show that Zhang Liansong, a Han Chinese born in October 1976 in Xing’an County, Guilin City, Guangxi, graduated in Public Administration from the Department of Political Science and Public Administration at Wuhan University. He has held positions such as Deputy Director and Director of the Policy Research Office of Liuzhou Municipal Committee, Deputy Secretary of the Liuzhou Municipal Committee, Deputy Secretary and District Head of Liubei District Committee in Liuzhou City, Deputy Secretary of the Party Working Committee and Director (concurrently) of the District Industrial Park Committee. In July 2021, he was transferred to serve as the Party Secretary of Luocheng County Committee in Hechi City, and in September 2024, he was appointed a member of the Hechi City Committee and Secretary-General.
Zhang Liansong’s former leader and former Party Secretary of Hechi City Qin Chuncheng stepped down in April 2026 and was transferred to serve as the Party Group Secretary of the Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan, Overseas Chinese, and Foreign Affairs Committee of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region Political Consultative Conference for just over a month before being investigated on June 5, 2026.
Qin Chuncheng served as the Party Secretary of Hechi City from June 2021 to April 2026, governing Hechi City for nearly five years. During his tenure, Zhang Liansong served as the Party Secretary of Luocheng County in Hechi City and was later promoted to a member of the Hechi City Committee and Secretary-General in September 2024, acting as Qin Chuncheng’s chief steward for over a year and a half.
It is noteworthy that Lan Tianli, the former Deputy Party Secretary of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region and Chairman of the District Government, who was dismissed from office a year ago, is from Yizhou, Hechi, Guangxi.
Following his downfall, Lan Tianli’s family in Hechi City has been under continuous investigation. In the past month, in addition to Qin Chuncheng, the former Party Secretary of Hechi City, and his chief steward Zhang Liansong being investigated successively, Wei Yongshan, the Party Group Secretary and Executive Vice Chairman of the Guangxi Autonomous Region Federation of Trade Unions, was detained on May 29, 2026. Wei Yongshan had a long tenure in Hechi City. Meng Jianjun, the former second-level inspector of the Hechi City Agriculture and Rural Bureau, voluntarily surrendered on May 27, 2026. Yang Longwen, Deputy Secretary of the Party Group and Director of the Hechi City Healthcare Security Bureau, was detained on May 7, 2026.
On May 31, 2026, Tang Ning, former Deputy Secretary of the Guangxi Autonomous Region Government Office and member of the Party Group, was reported to be under investigation.
Public records indicate that Tang Ning, a Han Chinese born in January 1963 in Yulin City, Guangxi, had a long tenure at the Government Office of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. He served as Director of the First Secretariat of the Government Office of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region and was a deputy inspector.
Lan Tianli had served as Vice Chairman and Executive Vice Chairman of the Guangxi Autonomous Region Government from November 2011 to January 2018. During this period, Tang Ning was promoted to Deputy Director of the Government Office of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region in July 2014; in November 2015, he was appointed Deputy Secretary-General of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region Government.
During Lan Tianli’s tenure as Chairman of the Guangxi Autonomous Region Government from October 2020 to May 2025, Tang Ning continued to serve as Vice Secretary-General of the Guangxi Autonomous Region Government, Deputy Director of the Government Office, and a member of the Party Group until his retirement in 2023 due to age. During this time, Tang Ning also held the position of Director of the Secretariat and Director of the Archives at the Government Advisory Office of the Guangxi Autonomous Region from 2019 to 2021 and was promoted to a first-level inspector in June 2021.
According to reports from the Guangxi Autonomous Region Commission for Discipline Inspection, from May 4 to June 7, 2026, 23 department-level officials in Guangxi were investigated. In addition to the aforementioned investigations concerning Tang Ning and officials from Hechi City, other implicated officials include Deng Guofu, former Party Secretary and President of the Guangxi Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Su Yingquan, Executive Vice Chairman of the Autonomous Region Family Planning Association, Zhao Jinmin, former Deputy Party Secretary and President of the Guangxi Medical University, Liu Minghong, Deputy Party Secretary and General Manager of the Guangxi Investment Group, Liu Hongrong, former Party Secretary and Chairman of the Guangxi Electric Power Co., Ltd. under the State Energy Group, Lin Guo, Chief Engineer of Nanning Industrial Investment Group Co., Ltd., Xie Jiang, Deputy Party Secretary and General Manager of Nanning Traffic Investment Group Co., Ltd., Chen Wenqiang, Party Group member and Deputy Director of the Cenxi People’s Congress Standing Committee, Chen Zhanya, former Deputy Director of the Cenxi People’s Congress Standing Committee.