Recently, in Chongqing, former standing committee member of the Municipal Party Committee and former secretary of the Political and Legal Affairs Commission, Lu Kehua, was expelled from the Communist Party and dismissed from office, along with several other officials in Chongqing, bringing the topic of the development of Guangyang Island in Chongqing back into the public eye, sparking widespread attention.
On April 23, the official announcement from the Chinese Communist Party stated that the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and the National Supervisory Commission have initiated an investigation into the serious violations of discipline and law by Lu Kehua, the former standing committee member of the Chongqing Municipal Party Committee and former secretary of the Political and Legal Affairs Commission, and decided on disciplinary measures.
According to the announcement, Lu Kehua was involved in multiple crimes, with “promoting illegal borrowing and financing for the construction of buildings” ranking second on the list.
In recent times, several officials in Chongqing have fallen from grace. On March 31, Duan Chengang, who previously served as a standing committee member of the Chongqing Municipal Party Committee, deputy chairman of the Municipal Political Consultative Conference, secretary of the Party Working Committee of Liangjiang New Area in Chongqing, and secretary of the Yubei District Party Committee, was ousted. On April 14, Duan Chengang was removed from the position of vice chairman of the sixth Chongqing Municipal Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference and had his qualifications as a member of the Municipal Political Consultative Conference revoked.
During his 29-year tenure at the Ministry of Construction of the Chinese Communist Party, Lu Kehua was accused of using his professional advantage to establish a unique model of engineering project bidding in Chongqing. However, the direct reason for his investigation may be related to the “Guangyang Island incident”.
A recent report in the “China Business News” further confirmed that Lu Kehua’s involvement in promoting illegal borrowing and financing for the construction of buildings is directly linked to the “Guangyang Island incident”.
The report detailed three other major crimes committed by Lu Kehua: illegally intervening in law enforcement activities; long-term addiction to gambling; and using public power for personal gain, engaging in corrupt practices with businessmen, engaging in power-business transactions, exploiting his official position for personal gain in project contracting, business operations, project approval, and unlawfully accepting substantial bribes.
On November 4, 2024, Lu Kehua was ousted. The following day, Wang Yue, the secretary of the Party Committee and chairman of Chongqing Urban Construction Investment (Group) Co., Ltd., with assets of 200 billion yuan, and Wang Maochun, deputy secretary of the Nan’an District Committee and district mayor, were publicly announced to have been expelled.
The downfall of these three individuals is widely believed to be directly related to the multi-billion level “Guangyang Island incident”. The history of the Guangyang Island development project, which lasted 22 years and once planned to invest 50 billion yuan, has once again attracted public attention.
According to the “Deep Dive” report, data compiled from public sources up to 2021 showed that local authorities had planned to invest at least 28 billion yuan in the Guangyang Island project. Eight major projects alone cost 12.5 billion yuan, with ecological restoration, ecological facilities, and supporting facilities projects costing 15.13343 billion yuan.
Last year, the “China Business News” published an investigative report linking Lu Kehua’s downfall to the Guangyang Island project.
The report mentioned that many in the industry believe that the local chaos coincided with Lu Kehua’s tenure—during Lu Kehua’s tenure as Vice Mayor, standing committee member of the Municipal Party Committee, and secretary of the Municipal Political and Legal Affairs Commission in Chongqing in January 2018, the bidding process for government construction projects totaling 360 billion yuan annually mainly favored certain types of enterprises, leading to resentment in the industry.
The Guangyang Island development project, which was originally planned for a 50 billion yuan investment, significantly fell short during its actual implementation.
For some time, a bidding control model emerged in the construction bidding sector in Chongqing, involving “certain state-owned enterprises in construction (or local construction Four Great Families) + individual officials + expert operators + evaluation experts,” which controlled the bidding for a large number of government construction projects in the city.
According to reports, another deputy ministerial-level official in Chongqing, Duan Chengang, is also linked to many irregularities in the local construction market.
Unlike Lu Kehua, Duan Chengang’s family is considered one of the famous “Four Billion Yuan Families” among local private construction bosses. Therefore, Duan Chengang is believed to have dual roles as a “individual businessman” and “official” in the bidding control structure involving four levels.