The former party member and deputy director of the State Tobacco Monopoly Administration of the Chinese Communist Party, Xu Peng, is under investigation for serious violations of discipline and law.
The CCP officially reported on the 20th that Xu Peng obstructed the investigation, accepted gifts, dinners, and sought benefits for several relatives in terms of employment and job transfers. He engaged in corrupt practices, exchanged power and money, and used his position to benefit others in administrative approvals, enterprise operations, and employee recruitment, illegally receiving substantial amounts of money. Xu Peng has been expelled from the party, removed from public office, and his illicit gains confiscated, and has been transferred to the procuratorate for investigation and prosecution.
At the age of 60, Xu Peng has served in various positions within the CCP’s tobacco system for a long time, including as deputy director of policy, regulations, and institutional reform at the State Tobacco Monopoly Administration, deputy general manager of Yunnan China Tobacco Industry Co., and chairman of China Tobacco Industry in Zhejiang, Hubei, Hunan, Guangdong, and Guangxi.
In 2010, Xu Peng served as the Party Secretary, Director, and General Manager of the Jiangxi Provincial Tobacco Monopoly Administration (company), and in 2012, he served as the Party Secretary, Director, and General Manager of the Beijing Municipal Tobacco Monopoly Administration (company). In 2014, he became a member of the CCP’s State Tobacco Monopoly Administration and deputy director. On May 25th of this year, Xu Peng was investigated while in office.
In recent years, many officials within the CCP’s tobacco system have been investigated. On October 23, 2023, former director of the State Tobacco Monopoly Administration, Ling Chengxing, was investigated. On May 7 of this year, Ling Chengxing was arrested. He was the highest-ranking official within the CCP’s tobacco system to fall since the end of 2021 and the first “top leader” of the State Tobacco Monopoly Administration to be investigated since its establishment.
Shortly after Ling Chengxing’s investigation, his former deputy, former party member and deputy director of the State Tobacco Monopoly Administration, He Zehua, was also investigated. He Zehua served as a member of the CCP’s State Tobacco Monopoly Administration and deputy director for nearly 10 years, amassing nearly 1 billion Chinese yuan through corruption within the tobacco system.
He Zehua had worked closely with Pan Jiahua, who was the former chief of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection stationed at the State Tobacco Monopoly Administration and a former member of the CCP’s State Tobacco Monopoly Administration.
Between July 2003 and March 2014, He Zehua served as deputy director of the State Tobacco Monopoly Administration. During this time, Pan Jiahua held positions such as member of the CCP’s State Tobacco Monopoly Administration and chief of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection stationed at the State Tobacco Monopoly Administration (in charge of the Discipline Inspection Unit and Supervision Bureau).
On May 11, 2021, Pan Jiahua was investigated, expelled from the party on November 13 of the same year, and sentenced to 11 years in prison in April 2023. He was considered an “inside man” for the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection.
Before Pan Jiahua’s downfall, Zhao Hongshun, former member of the CCP’s State Tobacco Monopoly Administration and deputy director, was investigated in February 2019. In June 2020, Zhao Hongshun was accused of illegally accepting a total of 90.32 million yuan and was sentenced to life imprisonment.
Apart from these cases, Zhang Hong, former director of the Technology Department of the State Tobacco Monopoly Administration, was investigated on July 11, 2023.
Yang Bo, director of the Logistics Center of Anhui China Tobacco Industry Co., was investigated on June 6, 2023.
Yu Jinxian, deputy director of the Anhui Provincial Tobacco Monopoly Administration, with over 20 years of service in the tobacco system, was investigated on February 10, 2023.
Three individuals, Gu Bo, former deputy general manager of Yunnan China Tobacco Industry Co., Zhang Shuichang, former general manager of Yunnan China Tobacco Industry Co., and Jiang Yawei, former chief economist of Anhui China Tobacco Industry Co., were investigated on January 16, 2023.