Chinese Communist Party Vice-Minister-Level Official Ma Fengsheng Under Investigation, Emphasizes “Party Loyalty” Before Falling from Power

On December 11, Ma Fengsheng, a member of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and vice chairman of the Political Consultative Conference in Qinghai Province, was announced to be under investigation for “suspected serious violations of discipline and law.” Before the investigation, Ma had given political education classes to party officials, emphasizing the importance of “party spirit” and “bottom line.” Ma Fengsheng is the 55th senior CPC official publicly reported to be under investigation this year.

Public information shows that Ma Fengsheng, born in April 1963 in Xunhua County, Qinghai Province, started working in 1984 and joined the CPC in 1985. Ma Fengsheng has worked locally in Qinghai for a long time, serving as deputy secretary, acting county head, and county head of Xunhua County. In 2005, Ma Fengsheng became the deputy commissioner of the administrative office of Haidong District in Qinghai Province, and in 2013, he was appointed as the party secretary and director of the Poverty Alleviation and Development Bureau of Qinghai Province. In January 2021, Ma Fengsheng was selected as a nominee for the list of advanced individuals for poverty alleviation in Qinghai Province, but his name did not appear on the final list released in February of that year. In February of the same year, he was promoted to vice chairman of the Political Consultative Conference in Qinghai Province, becoming a vice-provincial-level official until his recent downfall.

Ma Fengsheng was last mentioned in local official media reports on November 24. In June of this year, he gave a special political education class to some staff members of the Political Consultative Conference in Qinghai Province on the topic of “strengthening party spirit, adhering to disciplinary bottom lines.”

Ma Fengsheng is the second senior official to fall from grace in Qinghai Province this year. Previously, on October 14, Yang Fasen, a member of the standing committee of the CPC Qinghai Provincial Committee and secretary of the Political and Legal Affairs Commission, voluntarily turned himself in.

Since the beginning of this year, the CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and the State Supervision Commission have publicly reported investigations on 55 senior officials (including Ma Fengsheng).