In recent years, corruption cases involving 5 middle-level management cadres of the tobacco monopoly system, including the former director of the National Tobacco Monopoly Bureau, Lin Chengxing, have entered the judicial process. Four of them have been sentenced and one has been prosecuted. On May 21, Lin Chengxing was sentenced to 16 years in prison and fined 4 million yuan.
According to the court verdict on May 21 at the Changchun Intermediate People’s Court in Jilin Province, Lin Chengxing, former member of the Party Committee of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, former Party Secretary and Director of the National Tobacco Monopoly Bureau, and former General Manager of China Tobacco Corporation, was found guilty of bribery and abuse of power. He received a 13-year prison sentence for bribery, a 5-year prison sentence for abuse of power, totaling 16 years, and was fined 4 million yuan. Confiscation of the proceeds of bribery was also ordered.
During his tenure from 2006 to 2023, Lin Chengxing, taking advantage of his positions such as a member of the Jiangxi Provincial Party Committee, Deputy Governor, Party Secretary and Director of the National Tobacco Monopoly Bureau, and General Manager of China Tobacco Corporation, provided assistance in project contracting and enterprise operations, illegally accepting a total of more than 43.11 million yuan. Since 2015, when Lin Chengxing served as Party Secretary and Director of the National Tobacco Monopoly Bureau and General Manager of China Tobacco Corporation, he abused his power in investment approval and equity acquisition, causing a loss of more than 208 million yuan in state assets.
Public records show that Lin Chengxing, born in October 1957 in Shanggao, Jiangxi Province, started working in December 1980 and rose through various governmental positions before entering the tobacco system in 1992.
Lin Chengxing is the fifth director of the National Tobacco Monopoly Bureau. Established in 1984, the Bureau and China Tobacco Corporation operate under the system of “one organization, two brands,” conducting comprehensive administrative management of tobacco monopoly. Since the 19th National Congress, 5 deputy directors or higher-level officials of the National Tobacco Monopoly Bureau have been investigated, including Lin Chengxing, Zhao Hongshun, He Zehua, Pan Jiahua, and Xu Jie, known as the “Five Tigers of Tobacco.”
On June 18, 2020, the Intermediate People’s Court in Huai’an, Jiangsu Province, sentenced Zhao Hongshun, former Deputy Director of the National Tobacco Monopoly Bureau, to life imprisonment for bribery, confiscation of all personal assets, and deprivation of political rights for life.
From 2002 to 2018, Zhao Hongshun, while serving as Deputy Director of the Economic Operations Department of the National Tobacco Monopoly Bureau, Deputy Director of the Anhui Tobacco Monopoly Bureau, and Director of the Development Planning Department of the National Tobacco Monopoly Bureau, abused his power to assist in tendering tobacco seal printing and tobacco advertising businesses, receiving illegal payments totaling 90.32 million yuan.
On May 29, 2024, the Dalian Intermediate Court in Liaoning Province publicly announced the verdict for He Zehua, former member of the Party Committee and Deputy Director of the National Tobacco Monopoly Bureau, sentencing him to death for bribery, with a two-year reprieve which would be commuted to life imprisonment.
Between 1998 and 2023, He Zehua, using his position, provided benefits to units and individuals in business operations, project contracting, promotion, and employment, illegally accepting over 943 million yuan.
On April 4, 2023, the Intermediate People’s Court in Hefei, Anhui Province, sentenced Pan Jiahua, former Head of the Discipline Inspection Team of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection stationed at the National Tobacco Monopoly Bureau, to 11 years in prison for bribery. Pan Jiahua was found to have illegally accepted over 16.98 million yuan while providing assistance in equipment procurement and production operations using his position.
On March 16, 2025, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and the National Supervisory Commission reported that Xu Jie, former member of the Party Committee and Deputy Director of the National Tobacco Monopoly Bureau, was prosecuted for bribery. Xu Jie was investigated for bribery in May 2024 and subsequently expelled from the Party and discharged from his public office in November of the same year.
Investigations revealed that Xu Jie lost his ideals and used his power for personal gain, engaging in corruption for self-enrichment. Dubbed the “Tobacco Trio,” Lin Chengxing, He Zehua, and Zhao Hongshun worked together in the same team until their downfall. After He Zehua’s retirement in March 2014, Xu Jie replaced him in the team. This sequence of events unfolded with He Zehua’s investigation in January 2023 and Xu Jie’s fall from grace in May 2024.
The Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and the National Supervisory Commission reported that as of 2023, at least 14 officials in the tobacco system nationwide had been investigated. Apart from the aforementioned Lin Chengxing and deputy directors He Zehua and Zhao Hongshun, other officials included Gu Bo, former member of the Party Committee and Deputy General Manager of Yunnan Zhongyan Industry Co., Zhang Shuichang, former Deputy Secretary and General Manager of Yunnan Zhongyan Industry Co., Jiang Yawei, former Chief Economist of Anhui Central Tobacco Industry Co., and Yu Jinxiang, member of the Party Committee and Deputy Director of Anhui Provincial Tobacco Monopoly Bureau.
Zheng Wei, former Party Secretary, Director, and General Manager of Guangdong Tobacco Monopoly Bureau, Fu Wujun, Level I Business Manager of the Human Resources Department of Jiangxi Zhongyan Industry Co., Song Chunhua, former Deputy General Manager and Chief Accountant of China Tobacco Machinery Group Co., Zhu Shaoming, former Deputy Secretary and General Manager of Yunnan Zhongyan Industry Co., Yang Bo, Director of the Logistics Center of Anhui Central Tobacco Industry Co., Wu Yi, former member of the Party Committee and Deputy General Manager of Yunnan Zhongyan Industry Co., Li Benjian, former department-level cadre of Jiangxi Provincial Tobacco Monopoly Bureau, and Zhang Hong, former Director of the Technology Department of the National Tobacco Monopoly Bureau were also among the officials involved.