Qingdao political earthquake: Two former deputy mayors investigated on the same day

On March 31, two former deputy mayors of Qingdao were both reported to be under investigation on the same day.

According to the website of the Discipline Inspection Commission of Shandong Province on that day, Wu Jingjian, former deputy mayor of Qingdao, and Wang Jianxiang, former member of the Shandong Provincial Political Consultative Conference, are both under disciplinary review and supervision investigation for serious violations of discipline and law.

Public information shows that Wang Jianxiang and Wu Jingjian both had their main career paths in Qingdao. They had previously served as deputy mayors of Qingdao and as secretaries of district committees in the city.

At the age of 65, Wang Jianxiang had served as the district head and district committee secretary of Licang District in Qingdao, deputy mayor of Qingdao, member of the Qingdao Municipal Committee, secretary of the Qingdao Economic and Technological Development Zone Working Committee, secretary and director of the West Coast Economic New Zone Working Committee, etc. In January 2020, he was transferred to be a member of the Shandong Provincial Political Consultative Conference.

According to reports from Observer Network, it is speculated that Wang Jianxiang’s downfall may be related to a 3.7 billion yuan unfinished project.

Reports indicate that the unfinished project “Blue Bay Center” is located in the West Coast New Zone of Qingdao. The project was originally planned to have a total investment of 3.767 billion yuan to build a super high-rise urban commercial complex, but it has been unfinished for many years due to issues such as irregular land acquisition and certification. At that time, Wang Jianxiang was the deputy mayor in charge of land and resources.

The construction entity of the Blue Bay Center project is the Rich Bay Company under the Qingdao Haitou Group, a state-owned enterprise under the West Coast New Zone. In 2018, Qingdao Sangao Real Estate Co., Ltd. acquired all the equity of the construction entity of the Blue Bay Center project from Rich Bay Company.

According to relevant documents, the total cost of the transaction was as high as 1.128 billion yuan. At that time, Rich Bay Company had no actual operational business, with zero operating income and owner’s equity of around 0.529 billion yuan. The secretary and director of the West Coast Economic New Zone Working Committee at that time was also Wang Jianxiang.

At the age of 74, Wu Jingjian had served as secretary of the Licang District Committee in Qingdao. In 2003, Wu Jingjian became the deputy mayor of Qingdao, and in 2011, he stepped down due to age reasons until this latest investigation.

With this development, at least 12 officials from the four leadership teams in Qingdao after the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China have been investigated.