Former Deputy Minister Zhang Jianchun of the Chinese Communist Party’s Propaganda Department was sentenced to 14 years in prison in the first instance for accepting bribes exceeding 55.06 million yuan (RMB, the same below). Zhang Jianchun was taken down from his position last June.
On September 16, 2025, the Intermediate People’s Court of Langfang City, Hebei Province, publicly pronounced the verdict of the bribery case against Zhang Jianchun, former Deputy Minister of the Central Propaganda Department. Zhang Jianchun was sentenced to 14 years in prison for bribery and fined 4 million yuan.
The court stated that from 2004 to 2024, Zhang Jianchun took advantage of his positions including chief inspector, deputy director, and director of the Central Organization Department’s administrative bureau, as well as deputy inspector and deputy director of the administrative bureau, deputy minister and executive deputy minister of the Beijing Municipal Party Committee Organization Department, director of the administrative bureau of the Central Organization Department, member of the party affairs committee and director of the administrative bureau of the Central Organization Department, deputy minister of the Central Organization Department, and deputy minister of the Central Propaganda Department to provide assistance to relevant units and individuals in project advancement, business contracting, work arrangements, and job adjustments. He directly or indirectly accepted illegal payments from relevant units and individuals, totaling over 55.06 million yuan.
Last June, Zhang Jianchun was investigated during his term in office, double-opened in December, and transferred to judicial authorities. In April of this year, he was charged with bribery. On June 27, the first instance trial of the case was held at the Intermediate People’s Court of Langfang City.
Public records show that Zhang Jianchun was born in May 1965 in Yuncheng County, Shandong Province. He started working in 1984 and had a long career in the Chinese Communist Party’s Organization Department. In January 2014, Zhang Jianchun was appointed as Deputy Minister (director-level) of the Beijing Municipal Party Committee Organization Department, and in 2015, he became the Executive Deputy Minister of the Beijing Municipal Party Committee Organization Department.
In March 2016, Zhang Jianchun was appointed as director (chief) of the Administrative Office of the Administrative Bureau (Civil Servants Management Office) of the Central Organization Department. A year later, he became a member of the party affairs committee and director (chief) of the Administrative Office of the Administrative Bureau (Civil Servants Management Office) of the Central Organization Department. During this period, the Central Organization Department was successively under the leadership of Zhao Leji and Chen Xi.
In November 2018, Zhang Jianchun was appointed as Deputy Minister of the Chinese Communist Party’s Organization Department, and in 2020, he became the Deputy Minister of the Propaganda Department until he was investigated last June.