Xi Jinping’s central government has commenced the third round of inspections on finance and finance, with 15 inspection teams entering 34 economic and financial sectors, including the CITIC Group. Concurrently, news of Deng Xiaoping’s grandson, Deng Zhuodi, taking a position in CITIC has been exposed overseas. Analysts believe that at this sensitive moment of inspection, the release of news regarding Deng Xiaoping’s grandson working in CITIC signifies Xi’s focus turning towards Deng Xiaoping, Wang Zhen, and other veteran families.
The Central Commission for Discipline Inspection announced the completion of the central inspection team’s entry into the units being inspected, while the Sing Tao Daily revealed that Deng Xiaoping’s grandson, Deng Zhuodi, serves as a supervisor at CITIC Finance Corporation, a subsidiary of the state-owned CITIC Group.
Public records show that Deng Zhuodi, aged 39, is the son of Deng Zhifang, Deng Xiaoping’s second son, and is also Deng Xiaoping’s only grandson. Deng Zhuodi was born in the United States in 1985 and accompanied Deng Xiaoping on his southern tour at the age of 7. In 2003, he studied law at Peking University and later pursued a Master of Laws degree at Duke University in the United States, before returning to China after working at a US law firm for two years.
In September 2014, Deng Xiaoping’s daughter, Deng Rong, stated in an interview that Deng Zhuodi was indeed born in the US, but obtained a passport from the Chinese Embassy immediately after birth and was brought back to China just one month old.
In May 2013, Deng Zhuodi was appointed Deputy County Mayor and Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee in Pingguo County, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, concurrently serving as the Secretary of Xin’an Town. He withdrew from the political scene in 2016. Influenced by his grandfather Deng Xiaoping from a young age, Deng Zhuodi developed a strong interest in bridge and became a director of the Beijing Bridge Association in 2017.
The predecessor of the CITIC Group was the China International Trust Investment Corporation, established with the approval of Deng Xiaoping and founded by Rong Yiren. In 2002, it was renamed China CITIC Group Corporation, becoming a state-authorized investment institution. In 2011, it was restructured as a wholly state-owned company, renamed China CITIC Group Limited, and initiated the establishment of China CITIC Co., Ltd. In August 2014, CITIC Group injected 100% equity of China CITIC Co., Ltd. into the Hong Kong-listed company CITIC Taurus, achieving overseas listing. For a long time, CITIC has been a gathering place for princelings.
In 1978, after Deng Xiaoping took control of the actual leadership of the Communist Party of China, Rong Yiren founded the China International Trust Investment Corporation in October 1979, while Wang Zhen entered the Politburo of the CPC Central Committee. Later, Wang Zhen became the Vice-Chairman of the CPC Central Advisory Committee. In 1988, Wang Zhen also became Vice President of the country until his death.
As early as 2013, Radio Free Asia published an article attributing Wang Zhen with the title of being insatiably greedy, whether for his own ambitions or the benefit of his children during the entire Deng Xiaoping era. Wang Zhen’s second son, Wang Jun, was appointed Vice President and Chairman of the Shenzhen Branch of CITIC General Corporation wearing military uniform, while Wang Jun’s brother, Wang Bing, served as Vice Chairman. Those familiar with the inside story all claimed that the Shenzhen Branch of CITIC was truly a private shop for the Wang family, known informally as the “Wang Family Shop in Shenzhen”.
The article also mentioned that before Wang Zhen’s death in 1993, he and Deng Xiaoping agreed to have Rong Yiren become Vice President of the country with the condition that Rong Yiren completely withdraw from CITIC. Subsequently, Wang Jun’s position was upgraded from Vice President to President, and in 1995, Wang Jun was appointed Chairman of CITIC (Ministerial level) by the Organization Department of the CPC Central Committee. For over three decades, the children of Wang Zhen and Deng Xiaoping’s families only obtained massive private benefits through CITIC and its numerous affiliated and subsidiary companies, and the senior levels of the CCP were well aware of this.
Deng Xiaoping’s third daughter, Deng Rong, wrote in an article ‘Remembering Uncle Hu’ that “The three brothers of the Wang family and I formed an inseparable bond, talking about everything, consulting each other on everything, and even willing to stand together in difficult times. Uncle Hu (referring to Wang Zhen)’s matters were our own family affairs.”
With Xi Jinping’s highly centralized leadership, the families of the CCP red aristocrats have been continuously marginalized, with some red descendants even being purged.
In 2018, Deng Xiaoping’s daughter Deng Nan, Mao Zedong’s grandson Mao Xinyu, and Chen Yun’s son Chen Yuan did not become members of the new CPPCC. Additionally, Jiang Zemin’s cousin Jiang Zehui, Li Peng’s daughter Li Xiaolin, Zhu Rongji’s daughter Zhu Yan, etc., were also not on the list.
In July 2019, Wu Xiaohui, Deng Xiaoping’s grandson-in-law (now divorced) and Chairman and General Manager of Anbang Insurance Group, was sentenced.
In September 2023, Deng Pufang, Deng Xiaoping’s eldest son who had controlled the China Disabled Persons’ Federation for over 30 years, was replaced in the honorary chairman position by Xi’s confidant Yang Xiaodu. In the early stages of the Cultural Revolution in 1968, Deng Pufang was imprisoned by the Red Guards at Peking University and, unable to endure the torture, jumped from a three-story building, fracturing the first lumbar vertebra and the twelfth thoracic vertebra, resulting in paralysis of his lower body.
This time, Shih Kehui is responsible for inspecting CITIC Group. He is an old subordinate of Xi Jinping and Wang Qishan, as well as an old subordinate of the Director of the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office, Xia Baolong. After Xi Jinping took office at the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, several of his old colleagues from Zhejiang were given important positions, including Shih Kehui. During Xi Jinping’s tenure as Secretary of the Zhejiang Provincial Party Committee from 2002 to 2007, Shih Kehui served as the Deputy Director of the Document and Telegraph Office of the Zhejiang Party Committee Office, and later as the Deputy Director of Department II. At that time, Xia Baolong served as the Deputy Secretary of the Zhejiang Provincial Party Committee, acting as Xi Jinping’s “right-hand man”.
Subsequently, Shih Kehui was appointed Deputy Secretary-General of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and Director of the General Office in 2014, becoming the “major-domo” of Wang Qishan, who was then Secretary of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection. Before Wang Qishan left the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, Shih Kehui was appointed as a member of the Standing Committee of the Guangdong Provincial Party Committee and Secretary of the Provincial Commission for Discipline Inspection in 2017.
After Shih Kehui assumed the position of Director of the General Office of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, he accompanied the then-Secretary of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, Wang Qishan, on several local research trips. Since 2015, he has been seen with Wang Qishan on multiple occasions, such as in May and July 2015 when Wang Qishan conducted investigations in Zhejiang and Shaanxi provinces, respectively, as shown in CCTV News broadcasts.
Political commentator Li Yanming told The Epoch Times that CITIC Group was approved by Deng Xiaoping himself, and the children of Wang Zhen and other princelings had long held the positions of General Manager and Chairman of CITIC Group, indicating an extremely close relationship between Deng Xiaoping and the Wang Zhen families. Xi Jinping’s deployment of his confidant Shih Kehui to inspect the political and economic interests of the Deng and Wang families in CITIC Group demonstrates the level of attention Xi is paying. At this sensitive moment, the exposure of Deng Zhuodi’s position in CITIC hints at the direction of the CCP’s high-level power struggles towards Deng Xiaoping, Wang Zhen, and other veteran families.
Political commentator Tang Jingyuan also believes that Xi Jinping aims to render the Deng family politically powerless. Deng Zhuodi serving as a supervisor in a subsidiary of CITIC Group seems like a deliberate arrangement, similar to the previously rumored appointment of Hu Jintao’s son, Hu Haifeng, as Vice Minister of Civil Affairs, to portray an image of non-existent infighting between the Deng-Xi factions and a harmonious unity. This represents the consistent approach of the CCP to both engage in internal discord while displaying outward unity.