On July 7, 2026, Mu Hong, a vice-level official of the Chinese Communist Party and Vice Chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), unusually missed the annual high-level virtual meeting of the CPPCC. The reason for his absence is currently unknown. Since 2014, Mu Hong has served as the Executive Deputy Director of the Central Committee’s Office for Deepening Reform, working as the deputy to Wang Huning, a member of the Party’s Politburo and director of the Office for Deepening Reform, for 12 years.
According to a report by Xinhua News Agency of the CCP, on the afternoon of July 7, 2026, the CPPCC held a virtual meeting of the chairman’s meeting members for the year 2026. Wang Huning, a member of the Party’s Politburo and Chairman of the CPPCC, presided over and delivered a speech.
The so-called virtual meeting, as introduced by the CCP’s party media, is a form of meeting where decision-making layers of party and government organs at all levels engage in strategic and forward-looking discussions around strategic directions or specific work.
Reportedly, members of the Party’s Politburo and Vice Chairs of the National Committee of the CPPCC, including Shi Taifeng, Hu Chunhua, Shen Yueyue, Wang Yong, Zhou Qiang, He Houhua, Leung Chun-ying, Baatar, Su Hui, Shao Hong, Gao Yunlong, Chen Wu, Yan Hui, Wang Dongfeng, Jiang Xinzhi, Jiang Zuojun, He Baoxiang, Wang Guangqian, Qin Boyong, and Zhu Yongxin attended the meeting and delivered speeches.
Among the current 23 Vice Chairpersons of the National Committee of the CPPCC, Mu Hong, Pabala Gerelangjie, and Yang Zhen were absent.
Pabala Gerelangjie, 87 years old, has consistently been absent from the meetings of the CPPCC Standing Committee and the Chairman’s Meeting.
On the same day, Yang Zhen had a public activity. According to Inner Mongolia News Network, on July 7, 2026, the 16th meeting of the 17th Central Executive Committee of the China Democratic League was opened in Hohhot, with He Wei, Vice Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress and Chairman of the Central Committee of the China Democratic League, in attendance and delivering a speech. Yang Zhen, Vice Chairman of the CPPCC and Executive Vice Chairman of the Central Committee of the China Democratic League, chaired the opening meeting.
Currently, the absence of Vice Chairman of the National Committee of the CPPCC, Mu Hong, from the meeting is unexplained.
Four days earlier, on July 3, 2026, the CCP’s National Committee of the CPPCC Theoretical Study Center held its third collective study session. Mu Hong participated in the session. From July 4, 2026, until the early morning of July 11, 2026, Beijing time, Mu Hong has not been publicly seen for a week.
According to the publicly available resume, Mu Hong was born in December 1956 in Dalian, Liaoning. He graduated in Finance from the Central University of Finance and Economics. He has held various positions, including Deputy Director, Director, Deputy Minister, Minister of the National Planning Commission; Assistant to the Chairman, Vice Chairman of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region Government, Director of the Development and Reform Commission of the Autonomous Region, etc. In December 2007, he became Deputy Director of the National Development and Reform Commission. In January 2014, he took the position of Deputy Director of the Central Leading Group for Comprehensively Deepening Reform Office (Deepening Reform Office) on a full-time basis and was promoted to Executive Deputy Director in December 2014. In March 2023, Mu Hong was appointed Vice Chairman of the National Committee of the CPPCC, and promoted to a vice-national level, continuing to serve as the Executive Deputy Director of the Office for Deepening Reform.
Wang Huning has been serving as Director of the Office for Deepening Reform since January 2014. Meanwhile, Mu Hong has been Deputy Director and Executive Deputy Director of the Office for Deepening Reform since January 2014, serving as Wang Huning’s deputy for 12 and a half years.