According to insiders, Ma Xingrui, the former Party Secretary of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, has been reassigned to the position of Deputy Leader of the Central Rural Work Leading Group. Earlier, on July 1st, the official announcement stated that he was no longer the Party Secretary of Xinjiang, citing “another appointment” for him. This change has drawn widespread attention from the public.
It has been revealed by senior media personality Tsai Shenkun, who is currently residing in the United States, that Ma Xingrui has started working with the Central Rural Work Leading Group, but his new position has not been officially announced by the authorities.
Tsai Shenkun also disclosed that Ma Xingrui is currently cooperating with the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection in the investigation of his wife, Rong Li. The result of the investigation will directly affect his political future. It is said that if Rong Li’s issues can be clarified, Ma Xingrui still has hopes of becoming a Vice Chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference in the future; but if the relationship cannot be cleared, his career may come to an end, following the path of the former Xinjiang Party Secretary, Chen Quanguo.
The former top official in Xinjiang, Chen Quanguo, has a similar experience to Ma Xingrui. In December 2021, Chen Quanguo was removed from the position of Party Secretary in Xinjiang, with the official announcement also stating that he had been “appointed to another position.” It was not until June 2022 that he appeared publicly as the Deputy Leader of the Central Rural Work Leading Group. During the 20th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party in 2022, 67-year-old Chen Quanguo failed to be re-elected as a member of the Central Committee, gradually fading out of the core of the political scene.
At the age of 66, Ma Xingrui is a technically oriented bureaucrat in the field of aerospace within the Chinese Communist Party. He entered the political arena in 2013, holding positions such as Deputy Secretary of the Guangdong Provincial Party Committee, Party Secretary of Shenzhen, and Governor of Guangdong Province. At the end of 2021, he took over as the Party Secretary of Xinjiang and was elected as a member of the Central Political Bureau in October 2022.
Ma Xingrui is seen by the public as one of Xi Jinping’s important confidants. The Financial Times once cited insiders revealing that Ma Xingrui has a family connection with Peng Liyuan, frequently visiting the Xi family before Xi Jinping took office, and is one of the highest-ranking officials closest to Xi. Ma Xingrui’s abrupt transfer from Xinjiang is considered a major blow to Xi Jinping.
On July 7th, Australian blogger Jiang Wangzheng revealed that Ma Xingrui’s wife, Rong Li, was taken away by the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection for investigation on July 5, 2025. During Ma Xingrui’s tenure as Deputy Secretary of the Guangdong Provincial Party Committee, Party Secretary of Shenzhen, Governor of Guangdong Province, and Party Secretary of Xinjiang, Rong Li allegedly engaged in financial embezzlement under the guise of her close friend Peng Liyuan. “Rong Li transferred over 7 billion RMB through Hong Kong to family accounts of her daughter and son-in-law in Canada, as well as to the family office account in Singapore.”
[News Impact] Production Team