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Epoch Times
20-05-2025
- Politics
- Epoch Times
Top Official in Southern China Under Corruption Probe as CCP Seizes Assets Amid Economic Downturn
The top government official in southern China's Guangxi region has been placed under investigation over alleged corruption charges. China experts say the handling of the case signals a shift in Beijing's so-called anti-corruption campaign—not just imposing punishments on targeted officials, but also seizing their families' assets—due to increasing fiscal pressure stemming from economic decline. Lan Tianli, 62, who served as chairman of the Guangxi government since 2021, was accused of committing 'serious violations of discipline and law,' according to a May 16 statement from the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, China's top anti-corruption agency. Lan is the second provincial-level official to be targeted in less than two months. Shanxi Governor Jin Xiangjun came under investigation in April. In China's so-called autonomous regions, the position of government chairman is equivalent to that of a provincial governor. Between May 9 and May 14, four bureau-level officials in Guangxi were removed from their posts, including a deputy Party chief of the region's political and legal affairs commission and the vice mayor of Qinzhou city. Lan's family members have also come under scrutiny, according to Chinese state media. Financial news outlet Caixin reported that both his wife and brother are under investigation, suggesting that authorities are expanding corruption probes to include relatives in efforts to uncover concealed assets. Related Stories 5/23/2024 10/11/2023 Political analyst Zhang Tianliang said in a recent YouTube program that the handling of Lan's case signals a shift in Chinese leader Xi Jinping's anti-corruption campaign, which now appears to be entering a new phase that focuses on regional-level officials, their families' connections, and assets. 'Lan's case reflects a growing trend of extensive corruption investigations aimed at networks of interlinked officials. Local officials often function as interrelated cliques, where the downfall of one can implicate the entire group,' Zhang said. He pointed out that this pattern was also evident in the previous purge of the Chinese military's Rocket Force, when more than a dozen senior commanders were taken away for investigation, which began in the summer of 2023 and continued into the following year. Additionally, Zhang noted that the expanded investigation into family members indicates that anti-corruption efforts are no longer solely focused on punishing individual officials but on uncovering hidden assets. 'The authorities are trying to recover as much illicit wealth as possible to ease China's financial pressures,' he said. Under Chinese law, officials convicted of corruption typically have all personal assets confiscated. In one notable case, former central bank Deputy Governor Fan Yifei was sentenced in October 2024 to death with a two-year reprieve for accepting bribes from 1993 to 2022. Authorities said he amassed nearly 400 million yuan (about $55 million) in illegal gains, and all traceable assets were seized. Zhang's analysis aligns closely with what Chinese dissident Yuan Hongbing previously told the Chinese-language edition of The Epoch Times on May 2. Citing an insider source from the top echelons of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), he revealed that the current phase of the campaign is driven more by economic goals than political ones. 'The anti-corruption push is now about raising funds to address budget shortfalls,' said Yuan, a former law professor at Peking University who is currently living in exile in Australia. 'Many local governments are already in financial trouble. 'With the United States raising tariffs and China's exports taking a hit, the financial pressure is huge.' After U.S. President Donald Trump announced a series of tariff increases in early April, China's export sector experienced an immediate and severe impact. Chinese state media cited an industry insider who claimed that 90 percent of orders at traditional exporters to the United States came to a standstill. The Epoch Times could not independently verify this claim. Although Washington and Beijing subsequently agreed to a 90-day tariff truce on May 12, uncertainty still hangs over China's economy, which relies heavily on exports. Citing his source, Yuan said the CCP has confiscated vast sums from alleged corrupt officials in recent years and that the latest phase of Xi's anti-corruption campaign has sparked widespread fear within China's political system, as officials worry they could be the next target.
Straits Times
16-05-2025
- Politics
- Straits Times
China investigates Guangxi government head over suspected disciplinary violations
BEIJING - China has opened an investigation into Lan Tianli, the government chairman of south China's Guangxi region, over suspected violations of law and discipline, the country's anti-graft watchdog said on Friday. Lan is the second regional or provincial-level head to be investigated in less than two months, after the same body launched a probe into the governor of northern Shanxi province in April. The Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) said in a statement that Lan is suspected of "serious violations of discipline and law", a term that generally refers to corruption. The statement did not give details of the suspected violations. Reuters could not reach Lan to seek comment. It is uncommon for a sitting official of Lan's rank to be investigated without first being removed from their post. Lan, 62, became chairman of Guangxi in 2021. He last appeared in public during an inspection tour focused on ecological and environmental protection in three cities across the region on May 10-11, according to the official Xinhua news agency. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
South China Morning Post
04-05-2025
- Politics
- South China Morning Post
The inspectors keeping China's corrupt officials up at night
Chinese central government inspectors have been sent to investigate the activities of lower-level officials since imperial times but the practice has become a particularly pointed anti-corruption weapon on the watch of President Xi Jinping Advertisement These inspections are known as xunshi, and they have been a hallmark of Xi's sweeping anti-graft campaign since he came to power more than a decade ago. They have also become a cause of sleepless nights for many officials. Countless officials and cadres, including dozens of heads of provincial areas and state ministries, have been brought down as a result of such disciplinary checks. In the latest round of the campaign, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI), China's top anti-corruption body, has stationed 16 disciplinary inspection teams in various regions. One of those areas is the central province of Shanxi, where former governor Jin Xiangjun soon became the target of an investigation. 07:00 China airs 4-part anti-corruption series on prime-time TV amid renewed crackdown on graft China airs 4-part anti-corruption series on prime-time TV amid renewed crackdown on graft How do discipline inspections work? The CCDI used to rely on tip-offs from the public and disgraced officials for leads. Since 2013, the inspection teams have largely generated their own.
South China Morning Post
01-05-2025
- Business
- South China Morning Post
Star deputy at China's top securities regulator Wang Jianjun in corruption probe
A corruption investigation into Wang Jianjun , a well-known deputy at China's top securities regulatory body, has sent a new round of shock waves through the country's financial sector. Advertisement The top political disciplinary and anti-corruption body, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI), said on Wednesday that Wang, 57, was suspected of 'serious violations of discipline and laws' – a standard euphemism for corruption. Wang, who is vice-chairman of the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC), is facing 'disciplinary review and supervisory investigation', according to the corruption watchdog. In this position, which he held since 2021, Wang, oversaw financial institutions, market and bond regulations. He previously spent more than five years at the Shenzhen Stock Exchange, serving in the key roles of party secretary and general manager. In 2020, Wang delivered a total overhaul of ChiNext, expanding China's equivalent of the Nasdaq from 570 listed hi-tech companies to more than 1,000. Advertisement Total market value soared, from 5.23 trillion to 13.14 trillion yuan (US$719.3 billion to US$1.8 trillion), making it the second largest stock market for small and medium-sized companies in the world. The achievement was regarded as the most dazzling of Wang's career, winning him praise as 'professional, pragmatic, and thoughtful' from the mainland media, which hailed him as a reformist regulator with a 'growth mindset'.
The Star
25-04-2025
- Business
- The Star
China's top graft-buster warns ‘no one is untouchable' in corruption fight
China's top graft-buster on Thursday said it would continue to turn up the heat on corruption as part of broader efforts to create a better business environment, warning that 'no one is untouchable'. The Central Commission for Discipline Inspection remarks came two days after it said that the number of officials facing disciplinary action was up more than 50 per cent in the first quarter from the same time last year. The CCDI made the remarks in a commentary in its official newspaper, China Discipline Inspection and Supervision News. Do you have questions about the biggest topics and trends from around the world? Get the answers with SCMP Knowledge, our new platform of curated content with explainers, FAQs, analyses and infographics brought to you by our award-winning team. 'The thinking that the anti-corruption campaign will affect economic development and dampen cadres' enthusiasm is wrong and harmful,' the commentary said, pushing back against voices that have called for an easing in the campaign so that officials have more room for economy-boosting policies. 'Fairness and justice are crucial conditions for the healthy development of the economy and society, and corruption is the greatest injustice,' it said. 'Resolutely punishing corruption is a powerful measure to create a market-oriented, law-based and internationalised business environment and to maintain and promote social fairness and justice.' The commentary also acknowledged that China's fight against corruption remained 'grim and complex', and that the task of eradicating the conditions that breed corruption was 'arduous and onerous'. But it vowed to pursue every corruption case regardless of who would be implicated in the investigation. 'Now in China, no one is untouchable. There is no 'golden seal of immunity', no 'iron-hat prince', no so-called safe zones, and no forbidden areas that cannot be investigated,' the commentary said. 'This has become a common consensus of the whole party and the people.' On Tuesday, the CCDI announced that more than 185,000 officials were punished in the first three months of this year – a substantial increase of 53 per cent from the same period in 2024. More officials were put under investigation, too. The CCDI said a total of 220,000 anti-corruption investigations had been launched in the quarter, up nearly 50 per cent over the same period last year. 'The detailed data once again sends a strong signal that the fight against corruption will not stop and we will not give an inch,' the commentary said. At the top of the hierarchy, 14 provincial and ministerial-level officials faced disciplinary action in the first quarter – two more than the same period last year. But most of the increase in cases involved the rank and file, with some 24,000 'ordinary cadres' at the entry level of Chinese officialdom punished – a 50 per cent increase from a year ago. The CCDI said it also took disciplinary action against 130,000 rural officials and workers at state-owned companies, marking a 60 per cent rise from the first quarter of 2024. The CCDI statement on Tuesday said this showed the deepening efforts to stamp out corruption and misconduct that directly affects people's lives. In January, the CCDI made specific mention of tackling 'grass-roots corruption' during its plenum, vowing to zero in on graft below county level for the next two years. In a work plan issued in 2023, the Central Anti-Corruption Coordination Group also ordered an expansion of efforts to fight graft at the grass-roots level, including removing 'village tyrants' and 'district bullies' who it said were sources of instability. On Tuesday, the CCDI also announced the formal arrest of Li Gang, the disciplinary chief sent by the graft-buster to the Central Organisation Department – the ruling Communist Party's top personnel office – after more than nine months of investigation. Li, with a vice-ministerial title, is the highest-ranking disciplinary official to be detained and investigated for corruption in the past two years. More from South China Morning Post: For the latest news from the South China Morning Post download our mobile app. Copyright 2025.
