A corruption case within the Chinese Communist Party’s aerospace industry continues to spread. At the opening of a conference of the Anhui Hefei Political Consultative Conference on the 14th, Zhang Hongwen, the Secretary of the Hefei Municipal Committee with an aerospace background, was notably absent, after hiding for over a month, leading to speculation that he has “encountered a problem.”
According to photos released by mainland official media and social media, during the morning session of the Hefei Municipal Political Consultative Conference held on the 14th, Hefei Mayor Luo Yunfeng occupied the central position of the conference platform, with Zhang Hongwen absent.
The 49-year-old Zhang Hongwen has not made a public appearance since December 10 last year, missing several important meetings consecutively, including the Hefei Municipal Committee plenary session and economic work conference held on the 2nd of this month.
The Hong Kong newspaper “Ming Pao” reported that there are indications that Zhang Hongwen is another senior aerospace official who has recently “encountered a problem.” It is reported that the current Secretary-General of the Anhui Provincial Party Committee, Shan Xiangqian, will take over Zhang Hongwen’s position.
Zhang Hongwen had a long career at the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, serving as the Director of the Third Research Institute, which mainly developed cruise missiles. In 2019, Zhang Hongwen was promoted to Deputy General Manager of the corporation. The following year, he was “parachuted” to Anhui to serve as Deputy Governor and became the Secretary of Hefei in March last year.
Previously, former Secretary of the Hunan Provincial Party Committee and current Vice Chairman of the National People’s Congress Education, Science, and Health Committee, Xu Dazhe, was also absent from the meetings of the National People’s Congress Standing Committee in November and December last year. Xu Dazhe also came from an aerospace background, serving as the General Manager of the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation from June 2007 to April 2013.
In addition, on January 11, 2025, Jiao Jige, the former Chairman of the Hunan Aerospace Company, who had been dismissed for five months, was investigated.
Jiao Jige also had a long career at the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, serving as the Deputy General Manager of the Hunan Aerospace Company, a subsidiary of the corporation, in 2017. He was promoted to General Manager in 2019, Party Secretary, and Chairman in July 2021, also serving as the Director (Director) of a certain base of the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (Hunan Aerospace Administration). At the end of July last year, he was removed from the position of Party Secretary of the Hunan Aerospace Party.
Records show that Zhang Hongwen and Jiao Jige, both had nearly six years of professional overlap with Xu Dazhe at the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, and both were subordinate to Xu at one point.