Xi’s graft crackdown snares record number of senior officials in China

BEIJING – Chinese President Xi Jinping’s sweeping anti-corruption campaign has implicated a record number of senior officials for two straight years, highlighting the risks for bureaucrats and threatening to unsettle investors already anxious about the economy.

Mr Chen Xiaobo, the deputy chief of the provincial graft watchdog in Hainan, is being investigated for suspected “serious violations,” the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) said on Oct 10.

The probe brings the total number of senior government officials targeted by Mr Xi’s campaign since January to 46, surpassing 2023’s record of 45 with more than two months left to go. 

The record probes show the deepening intensity of Mr Xi’s signature anti-corruption push, which he has used to discipline the ruling Communist Party and eliminate political rivals since taking office in 2012.

China’s most powerful leader since Mao Zedong vowed at the start of 2024 to show “no mercy” in fighting corruption in critical sectors like finance, energy, pharmaceutical and infrastructure. 

In particular, China has continued to tighten its grip over the US$66 trillion (S$86.3 trillion) finance industry, labelling bankers as “hedonistic” and creating a new financial corruption work committee, indicating a push for more permanent oversight of the sector.

For example, the CCDI in June opened a probe into Mr Xu Zuo, a deputy general manager of the state-owned financial conglomerate Citic Group.

Other financial figures probed in 2024 include Mr Lou Wenlong, former vice-president of Agricultural Bank of China, and Mr Li Jiping, former vice-president of China Development Bank.

The CCDI also investigated former agriculture minister Tang Renjian in May, making him the third minister ousted from the current Cabinet, a rare pace of removals.

As the Oct 10 announcement showed, even CCDI staffers themselves are not exempt from the corruption fight.

The probe of the provincial graft buster, Mr Chen Xiaobo, followed that of Mr Li Gang, head of the CCDI’s inspection team at the Communist Party’s human resources department, in late September.

Bloomberg’s tally is based on announcements from the graft watchdog Central Commission for Discipline Inspection.

It does not include two former defence ministers of China removed by the Politburo.

The 24-man body in June

removed from the party former defence minister Li Shangfu

, who once worked at the equipment development department, and his predecessor Wei Fenghe, who once led the Rocket Force unit that had also seen several officials purged. 

Mr Xi’s government has unseated at least 18 senior military figures since opening a corruption investigation last summer into hardware purchases dating back to 2017.

In a clear indication of Beijing’s concerns about the country’s weapon procurement, the Communist Party called for changes to the military’s procurement system at the Third Plenum held in July. BLOOMBERG