In China’s Jilin City, a giant billboard stands as a monument to how corrupt officials fall

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He was expelled from the party in June last year, seven months after being placed under investigation for taking bribes.
CCTV series describes billboard as a way for Zhang Xiaopei to allow “his family to gain wealth” on the back of his power and influence. Photo: CCTV

Once business owners learned of the Zhang connection, they “took the initiative to spend huge sums of money [on renting the billboard], even though there was no demand for advertising”, the CCTV programme showed an official from the party’s top anti-corruption body as saying.

“[The businesspeople] were actually covering up [means] to funnel benefits to Zhang in this way,” the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection official said.

“His son’s billboard was an ‘overpass’ to Zhang’s power,” the documentary said, and Zhang “allowed his family to gain wealth” on the back of his power and influence.

Zhang, 66, is among four Jilin City party secretaries in a row to face corruption allegations. The four were in office between 2006 and 2017.

A CCDI notice in June said he had been “disloyal to the party” and involved in the buying and selling of official positions.

Revealing fresh details of the case, the CCTV programme said Zhang had accepted “tens of millions of yuan” in property and cash from businessman Liu Youcai.

The pair, who met as lower-ranked workers in a machinery factory affiliated to Jilin Chemical Group in the 1980s, had been friends for 40 years. Over that time, their relationship turned from one based on “brotherhood” to one revolving around “naked power and money deals”, a voice-over said.

Zhang rose to become manager of the chemical group, while Liu, formerly a chef at the factory canteen, prospered as his friend directed company banquets to be held there. The canteen flourished, enabling Liu to set up restaurants elsewhere in the city.

After Zhang took over as party leader of Jilin City, Liu reportedly asked that he help him secure new projects, with his business soon expanding to catering, logistics and transport, fire equipment supply and other fields.

Liu is alleged to have repaid the favour in kind, from cash to gold bars and equity.

In November 2022, state news agency Xinhua reported that Zhang had turned himself in and was under investigation by the CCDI and the National Supervisory Commission, a super agency set up in 2018 to extend the corruption fight beyond the ruling party to cover all public servants and village officials.

‘Tiger hunt’: China’s war on corruption sees record purge of senior officials

The CCTV programme also outlined corruption cases against three successive public security chiefs from neighbouring northeastern Liaoning province.

Li Wenxi, who was in office between 2002 and 2011, embezzled 541 million yuan (US$75.5 million), while Wang Dawei took 555 million yuan during his 2011-2013 term. Wang’s successor, Xue Heng, took 135 million yuan while in office between 2013 and 2022, according to the report.

The CCDI detained a record 45 senior officials last year, the highest number since President Xi Jinping launched his corruption crackdown in 2013, according to a tally by the South China Morning Post.

The commission will meet from Monday to set priorities for the country’s legions of discipline inspectors and supervisors in the new year.

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