The Xinhua News Agency reported on July 16 that China’s State Council had announced a round of personnel changes, including the removal of Tan Quan as assistant minister of public security.
Tan had served under Public Security Minister Wang Xiaohong during Wang’s tenure as Beijing police chief from 2015 to 2020. Tan became political commissar of the Beijing police’s public transport security corps in 2017. The following year, he was appointed deputy chief of Haidian district, head of the district police branch, and deputy secretary of its political-legal committee.
After Wang became public security minister in June 2022, Tan moved to the ministry and later headed its cybersecurity bureau. He was promoted to assistant minister and appointed to the ministry’s Communist Party committee in October 2025.
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Personnel changes at the Public Security Ministry
Tan is the latest senior official with professional ties to Wang to leave the ministry.
On June 26, Yue Xiuhu, the ministry’s vice-minister-level counterterrorism commissioner, was transferred to a deputy position at China’s state economic planning agency.
Xu Ganlu was removed in April 2025 as vice minister and head of the National Immigration Administration. Assistant Minister Hu Binchen was reassigned the following month as a vice governor of Jiangsu province and head of its provincial police force. Vice ministers Chen Siyuan and Sun Maoli were removed in July 2025.
Although Tan was removed as assistant minister, official reports indicate that he may have been transferred to Chongqing.
Tan appeared among provincial and municipal police chiefs attending a national conference in Nanjing on July 14 and 15. He was also shown attending a July 9 meeting of the Chongqing Communist Party standing committee.
Following a landslide in Pengshui county on July 17, the Chongqing Daily reported that Tan participated in a video conference directing the emergency response. The newspaper identified him as a municipal leader.
The appearances indicate that Tan has taken a senior position in Chongqing, but the municipal government has not formally announced his appointment or responsibilities. The city’s police chief position has remained vacant since the death of Zhang Anjiang in May.
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Sichuan police chief dies at 54
Tan’s apparent transfer came as Sichuan authorities announced the death of provincial Vice Governor and Police Chief Huang Ruixue.
Officials said Huang died from a sudden illness on the evening of July 15. He was 54.
Huang previously headed the Public Security Ministry’s general office before being transferred to Gansu and later Sichuan. His predecessor as Sichuan police chief, Ye Hanbing, was removed in May 2025 and prosecuted on bribery charges in April 2026.
Chongqing authorities announced on May 7 that Vice Mayor and Police Chief Zhang Anjiang had died from a sudden illness.
A June 26 bulletin from the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress said Zhang’s status as a national legislator had ended following his death.
Zhang was Chongqing’s eighth police chief since the city became a province-level municipality in 1997. Several of his predecessors were later removed or convicted.
Zhu Mingguo and Deng Huilin received suspended death sentences, while Wang Lijun was sentenced to prison. He Ting left office early following disciplinary scrutiny.
Other senior Chongqing officials have also been removed in recent years. Mayor Hu Henghua was placed under investigation on March 20, 2026, and Luo Lin, a member of the municipal party standing committee responsible for the Liangjiang New Area, was placed under investigation on April 17.
Former Chongqing party secretaries Bo Xilai and Sun Zhengcai are serving prison sentences after being convicted of corruption-related offences.
