By Jingyao Li
Editor’s Note: This article is based on official Chinese disciplinary announcements, state media reporting, and information circulating on social media and overseas platforms. Allegations and assessments regarding internal Chinese Communist Party personnel matters and corruption cases cannot be independently verified and are presented as claims by the cited sources.
China’s top anti-corruption authority has announced an investigation into Li Xu, a senior official of the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps (XPCC), a powerful state-run paramilitary and economic organization that plays a central role in governing Xinjiang. Li, widely regarded as a close associate of Politburo member Ma Xingrui, has become the second senior “tiger”—the Party’s term for high-ranking officials—to fall in 2026.
At the same time, Ma Xingrui has once again been absent from key Party political events, including the Fifth Plenary Session of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI), China’s highest internal watchdog. His repeated nonappearance has intensified speculation that his political career may be facing serious jeopardy.
Second “tiger” of 2026 placed under investigation
On January 8, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and the National Supervisory Commission announced that Li Xu, a standing committee member of the XPCC Party committee and a deputy commander, was suspected of “serious violations of Party discipline and the law” and had been placed under disciplinary review and supervisory investigation—a standard formulation used in corruption probes.
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Notably, Li appeared to be carrying out his duties normally until very recently. According to Bingtuan Daily, the official newspaper of the XPCC, Li delivered a lecture at the Xinjiang Institute of Industry in December last year on “accurately grasping the situation and policies of the 15th Five-Year Plan period and aligning with the times and the nation.” His public appearance suggested that he remained in good standing as late as last month.
Public records show that Li, 53, concurrently held a wide array of influential positions. These included deputy commander of the XPCC, deputy general manager of the China Xinjian Group Corporation (the XPCC’s sprawling state-owned conglomerate), secretary-general of the XPCC Party committee, secretary of the working committee of directly affiliated Party organs, and president of the XPCC Red Cross Society. He was also a deputy to the 14th Xinjiang People’s Congress and a member of the Eighth Committee of the XPCC.
Following the investigation into Tian Xuebin, the former vice minister of water resources, Li Xu is the second centrally managed official announced to have fallen in 2026.
Ma Xingrui absent from Fifth CCDI Plenum
Xinjiang’s political landscape has undergone a series of disruptions in recent months. Since stepping down as Xinjiang Party secretary in July 2025, Politburo member Ma Xingrui has not been assigned a new post—an unusual development for an official of his rank. He has since been absent from multiple high-profile Party meetings, while rumors alleging corruption have continued to circulate online. Some observers speculate that Ma may already have fallen from power, with only an official announcement still pending.
Ma was absent from the Politburo’s collective study session on November 28 last year, the Central Economic Work Conference held on December 10–11, the Politburo’s annual democratic life meeting on December 25–26—an internal self-criticism forum for senior leaders—and the Fifth CCDI Plenum held in Beijing from January 12 to 14.
A range of explanations has circulated regarding Ma’s possible troubles. These include allegations tied to his earlier career in China’s defense and aerospace industries, as well as claims of corruption during his tenures in Guangdong Province and Xinjiang. Anti-CCP blogger Jiang Wangzheng has alleged that Ma’s case involved sums as large as 300 billion yuan (approximately USD 42 billion), claiming that Ma’s wife, Rong Li, acted as a proxy to manage more than 7 billion yuan (about USD 980 million) in concealed assets.
On December 26, 2025, Jiang again posted on X, asserting that “Ma Xingrui has already been expelled from the Party and placed under investigation.” He further claimed that Ma was denied the opportunity to conduct self-criticism at the democratic life meeting and was “waiting to be announced as the first ‘tiger’ of 2026.”
Allies linked to Ma Xingrui continue to fall
Li Xu’s investigation is the latest in a growing list of cases involving officials linked to Ma Xingrui.
Ma assumed office as Xinjiang Party secretary in late December 2021, replacing Chen Quanguo, and concurrently took on the roles of first political commissar and first Party secretary of the XPCC, effectively placing him at the apex of Xinjiang’s political and security apparatus.
In June 2022, Li Xu was promoted to deputy commander of the XPCC and deputy general manager of the China Xinjian Group Corporation. He was subsequently elevated to the XPCC Party standing committee and appointed secretary-general of the XPCC Party committee, as well as secretary of the working committee of directly affiliated Party organs—appointments that coincided closely with Ma’s consolidation of authority in the region.
Officials associated with Ma from earlier stages of his career have also come under scrutiny. On December 24, 2025, Southern Daily reported that Guangdong Party standing committee member Feng Zhonghua had been appointed Party secretary of Guangzhou, while the former secretary, Guo Yonghang, was reassigned. Guo had previously served as Ma’s personal secretary during Ma’s tenure as Shenzhen Party secretary.
Another former associate, Chen Junwei—executive vice chairman of the Xinjiang regional government—was officially announced to be under investigation on November 30, 2025.
Chen’s time in Xinjiang closely overlapped with Ma’s. Chen was transferred to the region in 2021, and Ma moved from his post as Guangdong governor to Xinjiang Party secretary at the end of that same year. Both were identified as members of the so-called “Zhijiang New Army,” a loose political network of officials who built ties with Xi Jinping during his tenure as Party secretary of Zhejiang Province. After Chen’s fall, observers suggested that his case might be connected to Ma’s, pointing to an expanding cluster of investigations tied to Ma and underscoring the closeness of their political relationship.
Ma Xingrui has remained largely out of public view for an extended period, while multiple former subordinates from his time at China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, in Shenzhen, and in Xinjiang have fallen one after another. Although rumors of his “troubles” continue to circulate online, no official announcement has yet been made. Even so, some observers assess that the likelihood of Ma’s downfall is increasingly high.
