On December 17, former Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee and Vice Chairman of the Sichuan Provincial Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), Cui Baohua, was sentenced to fourteen years in prison for bribery.
Cui Baohua was accused of using his positions as the Party Secretary of Suining City in Sichuan Province, a member of the Standing Committee of the Sichuan Provincial Committee, Minister of the United Front Work Department, Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee, and Vice Chairman of the CPPCC in Sichuan Province from 2005 to 2024 to provide assistance to individuals in engineering contracts, planning approvals, and other matters, illegally accepting more than 65.39 million yuan in bribes.
The court stated that after Cui Baohua was taken into custody, he confessed to his crimes, voluntarily disclosed most of the bribery facts that the investigating authorities had not yet obtained, admitted and repented of his guilt, and returned the proceeds of his crimes. Therefore, he was given a lenient punishment.
Cui Baohua, born in November 1958 in Juye, Shandong, joined the Chinese Communist Party in July 1978.
In his early years, Cui Baohua served in the Chinese Communist Party’s military for 16 years. After transitioning, he worked for 11 years in the General Office of the State Council of the People’s Republic of China, eventually becoming the Deputy Director of the General Office of the Personnel Department.
Starting in 2001, Cui Baohua worked in Sichuan for an extended period, holding various positions including Vice Mayor of Deyang City, Executive Deputy Director of the Standing Committee of the Sichuan Provincial Committee, Deputy Secretary and Deputy Mayor of Meishan City, Acting Mayor, Mayor of Meishan City, and Party Secretary of Suining City, as well as Chairman of the Standing Committee of the Suining Municipal People’s Congress.
In April 2015, Cui Baohua was promoted to a member of the Standing Committee of the Sichuan Provincial Committee, serving as the Minister of the United Front Work Department of the Provincial Party Committee, and Vice Chairman of the Eleventh CPPCC Sichuan Provincial Committee.
In May 2017, Cui Baohua resigned from his positions as a member of the Standing Committee of the Sichuan Provincial Committee and Minister of the United Front Work Department. In January 2022, he stepped down from his position as Vice Chairman of the Sichuan CPPCC.
Two years after leaving office, in August 2024, Cui Baohua was officially announced to have fallen from grace. He was not only the “first tiger” in Sichuan that year but also the 39th senior official at the central level to be investigated nationwide.
Shortly before his downfall, Cui Baohua had participated in some public activities.
On November 16, 2023, Vice Chairman of the Sichuan CPPCC, Yang Kening, was investigated. Cui Baohua and Yang Kening had worked together in the Sichuan CPPCC for a year.