Former Communist Party Secretary of Guizhou Province, Sun Zhigang, stood trial yesterday (14th) and was accused of embezzling over 813 million yuan over a period of 21 years. Chinese media revealed that Sun Zhigang had implemented the so-called rural “industrial revolution” in Guizhou, leading to the “elimination” of nearly 8 million mu of corn. Chinese netizens have been questioning: who promoted him?
Sun Zhigang was accused of accepting bribes totaling over 813 million yuan from the second half of 2002 to August 2023 through his position directly or through others. This means that Sun Zhigang’s bribery spanned a period of 21 years, during which he held positions such as member of the Hubei Provincial Committee, Secretary General, member of the Anhui Provincial Committee, Deputy Governor, Deputy Director of the National Development and Reform Commission, Deputy Secretary and Governor of the Guizhou Provincial Committee, Secretary of the Guizhou Provincial Committee, Director of the Guizhou Provincial People’s Congress, and Deputy Director of the Financial and Economic Committee of the National People’s Congress.
According to a report by “Jiemian News” on August 15, during Sun Zhigang’s administration in Guizhou for five years, he made considerable efforts to “eliminate” corn in the province, promoting a so-called “rural industrial revolution.”
In October 2015, Sun Zhigang was appointed as the Deputy Secretary of the Guizhou Provincial Committee, subsequently becoming the Deputy Governor and Acting Governor, and then the Governor in January of the following year. At that time, Sun Zhigang was already 62 years old, an age when regular officials would soon retire, but he was instead promoted again, breaking the usual personnel practices according to observers.
Corn farming has been a tradition in Guizhou for four hundred years, with corn being a major staple crop in the province. After Sun Zhigang took office, he pushed for a “corn revolution.”
At the time, the national government had already begun reducing corn planting areas appropriately. The Guizhou government claimed that corn was an inefficient crop, with farmers earning only around 600 yuan per mu of corn, while switching to high-value economic crops such as vegetables, fruits, and medicinal herbs could yield thousands or even tens of thousands of yuan per mu. Research units also warned that planting corn could lead to soil erosion.
It is reported that during Sun Zhigang’s tenure, reducing corn planting areas and developing “high-efficiency economic crops” were seen as meeting the demand for “industry supporting poverty alleviation” by the authorities. Sun Zhigang had written in the Chinese Communist Party’s publication “Seeking Truth” that traditional small-scale farming severely constrained rural development and the so-called “poverty alleviation efforts.”
In 2017, Guizhou authorities only reduced corn planting by 375,700 mu over a year. However, six months after Sun Zhigang took over as the Secretary of the Provincial Committee, he demanded that all regions follow the directive to primarily switch to planting vegetables, edible fungi, herbal plants, etc., on land below 15 degrees; plant vegetables, woody medicinal herbs, tea, and high-quality fruits on slopes of 15-25 degrees; and completely convert land above 25 degrees inclination into grasslands or forested areas, reducing corn planting.
On March 8, 2018, Sun Zhigang declared a “profound industrial revolution to revitalize the rural economy,” initiating a vigorous campaign to reduce corn planting across Guizhou province. Slogans like “If you dare to plant, I dare to shovel, absolutely no corn stalks left” appeared in some areas, with reports of official personnel uprooting corn seedlings and clashing with farmers in some places.
By June 2018, official data from Guizhou indicated that over 7.92 million mu of corn planting areas had been reduced. In March 2019, at the National People’s Congress of the Chinese Communist Party, Sun Zhigang claimed that the rural industrial revolution in Guizhou in 2018 had reduced inefficient corn planting by 7.85 million mu, while adding 6.67 million mu of high-efficiency economic crops.
Media reports exposing Sun Zhigang’s scandals in his political career have stirred discussions among netizens:
“It’s just like the Great Leap Forward.”
“Why are they only saying this now? Don’t others bear responsibility too?”
“He has been ‘sick’ for so many years, who promoted him? Isn’t the Central Organization Department responsible too?”
“Who gave him a significant role at the age of 62?”
“The official announcement revealed that Sun Zhigang started embezzling from the second half of 2002 until August 2023, a span of 21 years, during which he embezzled while being promoted.”
“He couldn’t have been promoted without embezzling money. What can you do about it?”
“Hiding wealth in corruption.”
“Shocking revelation! Sun Zhigang embezzled 813 million yuan in 21 years, averaging over 100,000 yuan embezzled per day, an amount that many ordinary people cannot earn in a year… How could he embezzle so much in impoverished Guizhou? Has he lost his conscience?”
When Sun Zhigang served as Deputy Director of the Wuhan Economic Committee, the Mayor of Wuhan at the time was Wu Guanzheng, who later became a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China and the Secretary of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection. It is said that Sun Zhigang was initially favored by Wu Guanzheng, and when Yu Zhengsheng was parachuted in as the Hubei Provincial Secretary in 2001, Wu recommended Sun. Sun was subsequently promoted to a member of the Provincial Committee the following year while serving as the secretary-general of the province, working closely with Yu Zhengsheng. Sun was considered to be affiliated with Yu Zhengsheng.
After Sun Zhigang was transferred to Anhui as a member of the Provincial Committee and the Executive Vice Governor in 2006, it was rumored that he had a good relationship with Li Keqiang, who was from Anhui and became the Premier of the State Council. From 2008 to 2013, Li Keqiang oversaw healthcare reform when he was the Executive Vice Premier. In 2010, Sun Zhigang was moved to Beijing to head the Medical Reform Office of the State Council, which was under the National Development and Reform Commission at the time. When Li Keqiang became the Premier, the Medical Reform Office was transferred to the National Health Commission, and Sun Zhigang continued as its director, moving up from a deputy ministerial rank to a ministerial rank.