On September 29, Mr. Chen Yan, former member of the Guizhou Provincial Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) and vice chairman (deputy ministerial level), was convicted of bribery and abuse of power. Chen Yan was found guilty of accepting bribes exceeding 357 million yuan (RMB) and was sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve.
According to the report, from the second half of 2012 to February 2024, Chen Yan took advantage of his positions as Vice Mayor of Tongren City in Guizhou Province, Chairman of Guian New District Development Investment Limited Company, Mayor of Tongren City, Vice Mayor and Mayor of Guiyang City, and Vice Chairman of the Guizhou Provincial CPPCC to provide assistance to relevant units and individuals in matters such as government fund disbursement, project contracting, planning approval, and company operations, receiving gifts worth over 357 million yuan from the aforementioned entities and individuals. From May 2017 to October 2021, while serving as Mayor of Tongren City, Vice Mayor, and Mayor of Guiyang City, Chen Yan abused his power and violated regulations by leading cooperation between the governments of the two cities and Hanergy Holding Group Co., Ltd., resulting in significant losses of state-owned funds.
On June 12, 2025, the bribery and abuse of power case of Chen Yan was heard in the Intermediate People’s Court of Chengdu.
On March 25, 2024, Chen Yan was investigated and became the seventh high-ranking official to be investigated after the National People’s Congress of the Communist Party of China that year, also becoming the third mayor of Guiyang to be investigated.
Chen Yan, originally from Suzhou, Jiangsu Province, has been working in Guizhou Province. He started his career at the Guizhou Provincial Planning Commission and spent 25 years working in the Guizhou Development and Reform Commission system. In January 2012, he became Vice Mayor of Tongren City. In September 2017, he served as Deputy Secretary of the Guiyang Municipal Party Committee, Acting Mayor, and Party Secretary, and later as Deputy Secretary of the Guiyang Municipal Party Committee, Mayor, and Party Secretary. In January 2021, he was appointed Vice Chairman of the Guizhou Provincial CPPCC, while still holding the positions of Deputy Secretary of the Guiyang Municipal Party Committee and Mayor. From October 2021, he retained only the position of Vice Chairman of the CPPCC.
It is noteworthy that three consecutive mayors of Guiyang City have been investigated.
On March 27, 2023, Li Zaiyong, member of the CPPCC of Guizhou Province and former vice chairman, was investigated. Li Zaiyong had served as Deputy Secretary of the Guiyang Municipal Party Committee and Mayor of Guiyang since March 2011. Two years later, Li Zaiyong was transferred to Liupanshui, Guizhou Province, and Liu Wenxin, then member of the Guiyang Municipal Party Committee and Deputy Mayor, succeeded Li Zaiyong as the Mayor of Guiyang.
In 2017, Liu Wenxin was transferred to become the Secretary of the Qiannan Prefecture Committee of Guizhou Province. During this period, Chen Yan succeeded him. Liu Wenxin was investigated in October 2022.