Former Chongqing mayor Huang Qifan, who has been retired for 8 years, was officially announced to be under investigation yesterday (13th). During his 15-year tenure in Chongqing, he worked with six party secretaries and was dubbed as the “political iron man” for remaining unscathed despite his colleagues such as Bo Xilai and Sun Zhengcai falling from grace. The reasons behind his downfall have sparked various speculations, with some suggesting involvement in new cases, others pointing to past misdeeds, while a media person who interviewed him believes he violated a major taboo among top Communist Party officials.
Huang Qifan began his career in Shanghai, becoming the deputy mayor of Chongqing in 2001, a member of the Standing Committee and deputy mayor in 2002, acting mayor in 2009, mayor in 2010, and retired in 2016. He later served as the Deputy Director of the Financial and Economic Affairs Committee of the 12th National People’s Congress and became a member of the Chongqing Municipal Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference in January 2018. Subsequently, he was unsuccessful in running for positions in the National Committee of the CPPCC and the National People’s Congress. In recent years, he held positions such as Vice Chairman of the China Center for International Economic Exchanges and Chairman of the Industry Transformation Advisory Committee at Tsinghua University’s Internet Industry Research Institute, delivering speeches across the country.
News of Huang Qifan’s detention leaked to the Epoch Times on the morning of October 13th. He was supposed to give a speech at Tsinghua University but had to arrange for a last-minute replacement. The official announcement of his downfall was made later on the same day.
Various claims about the reasons behind Huang Qifan’s fall from grace are circulating online, including allegations of corruption within his family. Former media personality Jiang Weiping revealed that a Chongqing steel plant incurred annual losses of billions of yuan while importing iron ore from Australia at inflated prices, with Huang Qifan’s son allegedly profiting from the transactions to the tune of billions. There are also reports of his son engaging in corrupt practices in a Chinese state-owned enterprise’s agricultural investment project in Brazil, leading to financial losses for the company while he enriched himself. Additionally, there have been allegations of involvement in extramarital affairs and large-scale money laundering, though these claims remain unverified.
In a report by Hong Kong’s Ming Pao on October 14th, speculation surrounding Huang Qifan’s downfall includes connections to the ongoing crackdown on the China Center for International Economic Exchanges, where its former chairman, Bi Jingquan, has already been sentenced. Some believe his fall is linked to the recent ousting of several financial officials in Chongqing. This year, Ruan Lu, former head of the Chongqing Financial Work Office, was detained, along with Xie Wenhui, Chairman of Southwest Securities Co., Ltd., and Wu Jian, former Chairman of Yufu Holdings Group.
Veteran media figure Ji Shuoming, who has interviewed Huang Qifan on multiple occasions, informed Ming Pao that Huang Qifan became too high-profile after retirement, transforming into a social media-savvy official who frequently delivered speeches nationwide, a move deemed taboo in the political circles that may have upset certain individuals. However, Ji was unsure about the specific reasons for his downfall.
Ho Yao-nan, Director of the Center for China Studies at Tamkang University in Taiwan, told the Singapore-based Lianhe Zaobao during an interview that Huang Qifan’s downfall is not due to his recent actions but rather past misdeeds resurfacing, serving as a signal to other retired officials that past actions could be revisited at any time.
Kou Jianwen, a special professor at the East Asia Institute of National Chengchi University in Taiwan, believes that with Huang Qifan having weathered the storms around Bo Xilai and Sun Zhengcai and being retired for quite some time, prior issues should have been resolved. Any current troubles are likely related to new cases and could involve other high-ranking officials.
French media outlet Radio France Internationale (RFI) noted that many retired senior Chinese officials make rare public appearances after their tenures, typically only appearing at specific events such as leadership visits or New Year receptions. In contrast, Huang Qifan, post-retirement from the National People’s Congress, continued giving speeches on economic matters as a former high-ranking official known for his economic acumen. His active presence may have caught authorities off guard.
The article argued that Xi Jinping’s anti-corruption campaign, which began in 2013 and has spanned three terms, has not been effective in curbing corruption, which persists and even reaches higher levels, including three members of the 20th Central Political Bureau, He Weidong, Ma Xingrui, and Zhang Youxia. Corruption has become the “common sin” of all fallen officials, whereby staying clean in the mire of corruption is rare, but longevity in power is a subject of its own.
BBC highlighted that Huang Qifan has been seen as the “political iron man” in Chongqing’s political arena for years. Despite working closely with controversial figures such as Bo Xilai and Sun Zhengcai, both of whom faced troubles, Huang remained unscathed through their scandals. However, he ultimately “fell at an unexpected time” post-retirement.