Recently, there have been frequent incidents in the Chinese Communist Party’s official circles where officials gathered to drink excessively, leading to fatal incidents caused by alcohol intoxication. The latest two cases occurred in Hubei and Anhui provinces.
The CCDI (Central Commission for Discipline Inspection of the Chinese Communist Party) office recently publicly reported two incidents of officials gathering to drink leading to death. One incident occurred in Hubei. On April 4, Zhang Jian, former member of the Huangmei County Committee in Hubei Province and currently the Deputy District Chief of JinNiu District Government in Chengdu City, Sichuan, returned to his hometown in Hubei to pay respects to his ancestors. The next day at noon, he attended a dinner arranged by Huang Xiaosong, the secretary of the Party Committee and executive director of China Railway Erju Real Estate Group Co., Ltd., in JinNiu District. Participants included retired Yin Shiguo, former second-level director of the government office in XinXin Town, Luo Panjun, member of the Huangmei County Committee and Minister of the United Front Department, Gui Lijun, Chairman of the Huangmei Town People’s Congress, Chen Xianlong, Deputy Mayor of Huangmei Town, Shang Min, Director of the Finance Office of XinXin Town, and others.
Luo Panjun left the gathering first but suddenly died that afternoon. Testing showed an alcohol content of 4.35 milligrams/100 milliliters in his body, with the cause of death being diagnosed as sudden cardiac death. Afterwards, Pan Guohua, member of the Huangmei County Committee and director of the county committee office, concealed Zhang Jian’s true identity, deleted information regarding the number of dinner attendees, and obscured who paid for the gathering before reporting it.
Another incident took place in Qianling Township, Susong County, Anhui Province. It was reported that on April 27, Wu Xingzhou, Deputy Secretary of the Qianling Township Party Committee, invited Zhang Jinguo, Deputy Secretary of the Qianling Township Party Committee and Mayor, Luo Guidong, Chairman of the People’s Congress, Wu Ping, head of the CPPCC contact group, Huang Zhenhua, Party Committee member and Deputy Mayor, Li Lingfeng, Party Committee member and Secretary of the Discipline Inspection Commission, Fang Jian, Party Committee member and member of the Organization Department, Xu Tao, Party Committee member, Li Yiyang, Party Committee member and Director of the Propaganda Department, Zhang Linhai, Party Committee member and Minister of the Armed Forces Department, Deputy Mayors He Bing and Shi Wenhua, Hu Wei, Director of the Party and Government Office, Shi Binbin, Deputy Secretary of the Party General Branch of Maoba Village, and Hong Zhipeng, Director of the Qianling Police Station to a dinner organized at a restaurant. Wu Xingzhou died of suffocation due to reflux of stomach contents in the early hours of April 28 after drinking excessively.
Authorities have taken actions such as dismissal and warnings against officials involved in the two incidents, criticizing them for ignoring the Central Government’s eight-point regulations and acting against the central deployment.
In a previous report on May 13, the Chinese Communist Party announced that during a meeting on studying the “Central Government’s Eight-point Regulations” in Luoshan County, Xinyang City, Henan Province, 10 officials gathered and violated regulations by drinking excessively. Five of them shared four bottles of white liquor, and Xia Yu, Deputy Secretary of the Political and Legal Committee of the Luoshan County Party Committee, died on that afternoon. The 10 officials involved were subsequently dismissed, expelled, or demoted.
In fact, the Chinese Communist Party’s official circles have issued multiple bans on alcohol consumption, but the problem of excessive drinking persists. In December 2022, during the training session for the “20th National Congress” at the Qinghai Provincial Party School, six senior officials of the CCP gathered for a dinner and consumed seven bottles of white liquor, resulting in one person’s death. The incident was not reported until nearly half a year later, shocking the nation and prompting a crackdown on party schools across the country.
In September 2023, the Discipline Inspection Commission of Hunan Province reported that 11 leading cadres in Xiangxi Prefecture violated regulations by indulging in excessive drinking during a concentrated training period on the “spirit of the 20th National Congress,” meeting for drinks after daytime classes.
At the end of 2015, the Chinese Ministry of Defense confirmed that Major General Zhang Yan in the 26th Army held a drinking gathering with two former subordinates from the 39th Army, resulting in one person’s death. Zhang Yan was demoted from his military rank and dismissed to a deputy military rank.
In September 2017, Political Commissar Huang Hongfei of the Type 052D guided-missile destroyer Nanjing of the East Sea Fleet died of suffocation due to alcohol intoxication.
This year, the Chinese Communist authorities have been promoting the so-called “Central Government’s Eight-point Regulations” for officials, but incidents of officials getting into trouble continue to be a hot topic on the internet. Some netizens question why the more serious issues of corruption and keeping mistresses among a large number of officials have not been prominently reported by CCTV and other official media outlets.
Senior commentator Hu Ping previously told Radio Free Asia that after the “Eight-point Regulations” were announced in 2012, they were intended as a deterrent for officials. However, due to the strict and unrealistic requirements, they cannot be consistently implemented in the long run, and the leadership will only strictly enforce them when politically necessary. After the campaign ends, the use of public funds for banquets and excessive drinking behavior tends to resurge.
Commentator Du Zheng wrote in an article for Taiwan media “Up Media” that excessive drinking in the Chinese Communist Party’s official circles sets a bad example from the top down, making it difficult to enforce bans.
In a report from the “Maotai Liquor News” on June 30, 2005, Xi Jinping, who was then serving as the Secretary of the Zhejiang Provincial Party Committee, hosted a reception for Maotai Group Chairman Ji Kelian and Maotai Liquor Co., Ltd. Chairman Yuan Renguo. Xi Jinping revealed that he has always enjoyed drinking Maotai liquor.
Former President of the Republic of China, Ma Ying-jeou, mentioned in his memoir that during the “Xi-Ma Meeting” held in Singapore in November 2015, Xi Jinping disclosed that former Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai’s alcohol consumption limit was one jin (500 grams) of Maotai liquor. Whenever he drank one jin, Xi Zhongxun, Zhou’s deputy at the time, would have to “take over,” often staggering home at night. Xi Jinping admitted that he didn’t understand it until he grew up a bit and realized that it was his father’s job.