On November 4th, the Communist Party of China’s Supreme People’s Procuratorate announced that the investigation into the case of Zhang Tianfeng, former member of the Party group and deputy director of the State Tobacco Monopoly Administration, has concluded. The Ganzhou City People’s Procuratorate in Jiangxi Province has recently filed a public prosecution against Zhang Tianfeng at the Ganzhou Intermediate People’s Court.
The prosecution alleges that Zhang Tianfeng, in his various positions within the tobacco monopoly system, including as Secretary of the Party group, Director, and Manager of the Yulin City Tobacco Monopoly Administration (Branch), as well as member of the Party group, Deputy General Manager of the Shaanxi Provincial Tobacco Monopoly Administration (Company), Secretary of the Party group, Director, and General Manager of the Shaanxi Provincial Tobacco Monopoly Administration (Company), Director of the Personnel Department of the State Tobacco Monopoly Administration, and member of the Party group and deputy director of the State Tobacco Monopoly Administration, took advantage of his official duties to seek benefits for others, illegally accepted property from others in an especially large amount, and should be held criminally responsible for bribery.
On January 17th this year, Zhang Tianfeng, a vice-ministerial level official, was announced to be under investigation, becoming the first high-ranking official to be targeted in 2025. On July 14th, it was officially announced that Zhang Tianfeng was expelled from the Party, had his benefits revoked, and was transferred to judicial authorities. The announcement stated that Zhang Tianfeng abused his power for personal gain, engaged in corrupt practices, and illegally accepted substantial amounts of money.
Public records show that Zhang Tianfeng, born in 1963, had worked in various tobacco-related departments in Shaanxi for a long time. In 2017, he became the Director of the Personnel Department at the State Tobacco Monopoly Administration (ministerial level), and was promoted to deputy director (vice-ministerial level) in 2020. In June 2023, he retired due to reaching the retirement age.
Since 2021, a series of corruption scandals within China’s tobacco system have been exposed. This includes high-ranking officials such as Ling Chengxing, former director of the State Tobacco Monopoly Administration, and Xu Jie, former deputy director, implicated in corrupt practices. Many have been accused of abusing their positions for personal gain and accepting large sums of illegal money. Among them, He Zehua was sentenced to death with a reprieve in the first instance for accepting bribes exceeding 943 million RMB, with no possibility of sentence reduction or parole.
Established in 1984, the State Tobacco Monopoly Administration implements comprehensive administrative management over tobacco monopolies, working in conjunction with the China National Tobacco Corporation under the “one system, two brands” structure. The administration oversees the comprehensive administration of tobacco monopolies.