According to the announcement by the Chinese Communist Party’s anti-corruption supervisory agency, in the first 10 months of 2024, 46 senior officials have been under investigation. This is an increase compared to the total of 45 high-ranking officials arrested in 2023.
Bloomberg reported that Chinese President Xi Jinping’s anti-corruption campaign has set record highs for the number of high officials detained for two consecutive years, highlighting the risks faced by the bureaucratic structure of the Chinese Communist Party.
The latest case involves Chen Xiaobo, the deputy director of the disciplinary inspection commission of Hainan Province, who was announced by the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection on Thursday, October 10th, to be under investigation for “serious violations of discipline and law.”
At the beginning of this year, the Chinese Communist Party leader vowed to show no mercy in combating corruption in key sectors such as finance, energy, pharmaceuticals, and infrastructure. Additionally, a new Financial Corruption Working Committee has been established by the CCP, indicating their intention to promote longer-term oversight of the $66 trillion industry.
Official media reported on Thursday that former Vice Governor of the People’s Bank of China, Fan Yifei, was sentenced to death with a reprieve for accepting bribes exceeding 386 million yuan and is not eligible for parole.
Financial industry officials investigated by the disciplinary inspection commission this year also include Xu Zuo, the deputy general manager of the state-owned financial group CITIC Group; Lou Wenlong, former deputy governor of the Agricultural Bank of China; and Li Jiping, former deputy governor of the China Development Bank.
In May, the disciplinary inspection commission investigated former Minister of Agriculture Tang Renjian. Tang Renjian is the third ministerial-level official to be dismissed, marking a speed of removal of officials at the highest levels of the CCP that has never been seen before.
Even the staff of the disciplinary inspection commission have not been spared from becoming casualties of internal struggles. At the end of September, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection of the National Supervisory Commission announced that Li Gang, head of the disciplinary inspection and supervision team of the Central Organization Department of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, was suspected of serious violations of discipline and law and is currently under disciplinary review and supervision investigation. Li Gang was appointed head of the disciplinary inspection team of the Central Organization Department of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection in January. In late August, Li Gang announced the investigation into Chen Xiaobo.
The number of replaced officials mentioned above does not include the two former defense ministers, Li Shangfu and Wei Fenghe, who were dismissed from the Political Bureau.
Since the summer of 2023, when a corruption investigation into military procurement dating back to 2017 began, at least 18 senior military officials have been dismissed.