Former Deputy Director of the General Administration of Customs of the Chinese Communist Party, Sun Yuning, who fell from grace in September last year, was announced yesterday (March 14) to have been “double opened” (expelled from the party and public office), with official accusations of involvement in money-for-sex transactions and accepting large amounts of illegal wealth. Sun’s former superior, former Director of the General Administration of Customs, Yu Jianhua, reportedly committed suicide by swallowing a gun last December.
The Central Commission for Discipline Inspection of the Chinese Communist Party announced on March 14 that Sun Yuning, former member of the Party Committee and Deputy Director of the General Administration of Customs of the CCP, was “double opened”.
Sun Yuning was accused of violating regulations by entering private clubs, engaging in money-for-sex transactions, and illegally accepting large sums of wealth.
Public records show that Sun Yuning was born in July 1965 in Shulan, Jilin. He started working at Changchun Customs in 1995 and was appointed Deputy Director of Changchun Customs (Deputy Bureau Level) and member of the party group in August 2004. He later served as Director of Manzhouli Customs, Zhengzhou Customs, and Dalian Customs. In October 2020, Sun Yuning was promoted to Deputy Director and member of the Party Committee of the General Administration of Customs.
During Sun Yuning’s tenure as Deputy Director of the General Administration of Customs, Yu Jianhua was the Director of the General Administration of Customs. Three months after Sun Yuning’s downfall, Yu Jianhua suddenly passed away on December 10 last year. The official Chinese Communist Party statement claimed that Yu Jianhua passed away due to “sudden illness beyond rescue”. However, online rumors circulated that Yu Jianhua committed suicide after being questioned by discipline inspection personnel, with some saying he jumped from his office building, while others suggested he swallowed a gun or that it was related to the Sun Yuning case.
At that time, an account named “Luo Changping Champion” exposed that one of the triggers of the Yu Jianhua case was the shady dealings in the “smart customs project” that cost several billion annually.