Recently, Chinese Communist Party official and Chairman of Guangxi Autonomous Region, Lantian Li, was investigated for allegations of selling rare earth metals. Rumors circulating online suggest that Li was accused of “treason,” leading to a clean-up of the Guangxi officialdom. Additionally, Guo Shengkun, a prominent figure associated with the resources of rare earth metals in Guangxi, was also reportedly brought in for questioning.
On May 16th, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection of the Chinese Communist Party announced the investigation into Lantian Li, Vice Secretary of the Guangxi Autonomous Region Party Committee and Chairman of the Regional Government.
Following Li’s investigation, Chen Gang, Secretary of the Guangxi Party Committee, initiated a special operation titled “Ten-Year Investigation into Illegal Mining and Heavy Metal Pollution Issues,” aiming to uncover underlying corruption issues. This move has sparked speculation among political observers.
Born in October 1962 in Hechi, Guangxi, Lantian Li has been a member of the 18th and 19th Central Committees of the Chinese Communist Party and a member of the 20th Central Committee. He held various positions in Guangxi since 1998, including Vice Director and Director of the Guangxi Science and Technology Department, Deputy Secretary, and Secretary of the Hechi City Party Committee. In 2011, at the age of 49, he was promoted to Vice Chairman of the Guangxi Government. Subsequently, he rose to become a member of the Guangxi Party Committee in April 2015, Executive Vice Chairman of the Guangxi Government in 2016, Chairman of the Guangxi Political Consultative Conference in 2018, and was elevated to the provincial level. He assumed the role of Chairman of the Guangxi Government at the end of 2020 until the recent investigation.
Lantian Li had connections with Jin Xiangjun, former Deputy Secretary of the Shanxi Provincial Party Committee and Governor, who also served in Guangxi. During Li’s tenure as Vice Chairman of the Guangxi Government and Chairman of the Political Consultative Conference, Jin Xiangjun was the Secretary of the Fangchenggang City Party Committee from January 2014 to January 2018.
Former member of the Chinese Communist Party’s Political Bureau and Secretary of the Political and Legal Affairs Commission, Guo Shengkun, had significant interests in non-ferrous metals and rare earth metals in Guangxi. During Guo’s term as the Party Secretary in Guangxi, the Guangxi Nonferrous Metals Group Limited was established in 2008 to consolidate and develop domestic non-ferrous metal resources, including rare earth elements.
After Lantian Li’s investigation, it was widely speculated online that the case involved the illicit sale of rare earth metals to foreign countries. Guangxi is known for its abundant mineral resources, being one of China’s ten key non-ferrous metal production areas and a significant region for rare earth elements, particularly rich in medium and heavy rare earths like terbium and dysprosium. Amid escalating tensions between China and the United States, Beijing has increasingly utilized rare earths as a bargaining chip in the trade conflict, intensifying export controls.
Anti-Communist influencer residing in Australia, Yin Ke (online alias “Jiang Wangzheng”), recently disclosed on an online platform that Beijing had categorized Lantian Li’s case as “treason,” alleging that Jin Xiangjun and Lantian Li colluded in the illicit sale of rare earth metals. Their years-long professional intersection in Guangxi laid the foundation for the longstanding practice of rare earth metal trafficking.
Yin Ke further claimed that following Li’s investigation, Guo Shengkun was summoned for questioning, along with officials promoted by Guo during his leadership in Guangxi, in a joint probe conducted by the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and the Organization Department.
He also disclosed that another associate of Guo Shengkun from Guangxi was facing severe scrutiny, potentially becoming the third provincial governor to be investigated while in office, following the cases of Jin Xiangjun and Lantian Li.
Guo Shengkun, along with former Standing Committee member and influential figure in the Jiang faction, Zeng Qinghong, not only shared ties as fellow Jiangxi natives but was also reportedly Zeng’s nephew-in-law.
After Lantian Li’s investigation, the Guangxi authorities made a rare statement affirming that there is “no talisman of immunity, nor the ‘Iron Hat King'” for wrongdoers. This reminiscent declaration has drawn parallels to the removal of Zhou Yongkang, former member of the Political Bureau of the Chinese Communist Party, highlighting intense power struggles within the top echelons of the party.
Political commentator Li Yanming penned an article on Epoch Times, suggesting that on the eve of the Fourth Plenary Session of the 19th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, corruption cases within the Guangxi officialdom were thrust into the spotlight, hinting at the resurgence of the term “Iron Hat King” in official discourse, uncovering intense infighting at the party’s highest levels.