In 2023, a series of corruption cases in China involving the People's Liberation Army Rocket Force, the Equipment Development Department of the Central Military Commission, aerospace and military enterprises, and universities related to military research and development was uncovered. It was the first corruption case involving the highest level of the military after the 20th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party and the start of Xi Jinping's third term as CCP general secretary and chairman of the Central Military Commission.
Starting in July 2023, a series of senior military and defense industry officials were dismissed from their posts. Some were removed from their positions as deputies to the National People's Congress and members of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, while others were expelled from the Chinese Communist Party. Those involved included Li Shangfu, a member of the Central Military Commission, State Councilor, and Minister of National Defense, and all three former commanders of the Rocket Force: Li Yuchao, Zhou Yaning, and Wei Fenghe. The corruption of Li Shangfu and Wei Fenghe was first publicly confirmed on 27 June 2024, but the complete list of those involved and the specific details of the corruption cases were not disclosed.
Predecessor purges and reforms During Xi's initial anti-corruption campaign in 2013-15, the purge's primarily purpose was to remove generals loyal to Xi's political rivals and assert Xi's control over the PLA. As a result, most senior PLA leaders and operational commanders remained in their posts, despite their known complicity in corruption. The PLA retained much of its autonomy over military issues and maintained the existing political work system, meaning that the PLA was essentially monitoring itself.
Xi's 2016 military reforms aimed to strengthen military loyalty to the party, and added monitoring mechanisms that were supposed to deter corruption. However, these checks-and-balances still relied on PLA officers to monitor their peers, counting on political commissars to place party loyalty above else.
Despite the central government requiring official guidelines for “competitive selection”, China's defense industry is dominated by a handful of massive, state-protected monopolies that produce military equipment, where political patronage supersedes technical merit. Officers who were sent to the weapons manufacturers to ensure the quality of production have received bribes from such manufacturers. The PLA also classifies military procurement as a state secret and guards this secrecy obsessively. There is no public oversight nor independent auditing that serve as natural checks on corruption in democratic political systems, as the PLA instead relies upon internal policing even though that has failed for decades. As a result of the above institutionalized attributes, corruption remained rampant in the PLA.
Effects of rampant corruption It was widely reported that senior officers had paid for their promotions.
The ballistic missile's high prestige, large budget, and low chance of being launched for readiness verification makes the program a sweet spot for graft. Corruption during the procurement these nuclear systems "was so pervasive that some liquid-fueled missiles in the PLA Rocket Force were filled with water instead of fuel", while "massive new ICBM silo fields in Xinjiang had defective silo doors that would not open or function correctly". Chinese inter-continental ballistic missiles are rarely tested and only done so to gather data for new technologies, compared to American equivalents which are test-launched regularly to demonstrate effective deterrence.
Nan Tian, director of SIPRI's Military Expenditure and Arms Production Programme, said “a host of corruption allegations in Chinese arms procurement led to major arms contracts being postponed or canceled in 2024”, causing revenues from Chinese defense companies to drop.
Investigations
People's Liberation Army +Military generals who were removed from their positions as deputies to the National People's CongressDateNameMilitary rankBranchReasonNotes7 July 2023Zhang ZhenzhongFormer Deputy Chief of the Joint Staff Department of the Central Military CommissionJoint Staff DepartmentSuspected of serious violations of discipline and law26 September 2023Lü HongFormer Minister of the Equipment Department of the Rocket ForceRocket ForceLi YuchaoFormer Commander of the Rocket ForceRocket ForceZhou YaningFormer Commander of the Rocket ForceRocket Force27 November 2023Ju XinchunFormer Deputy Commander of the Southern Theater Command and Commander of the Southern Theater Command NavyNavyOnce served as the Minister of the Equipment Department of the South China Sea Fleet.28 November 2023Zhang YulinFormer Deputy Minister of the Equipment Development Department of the Central Military CommissionEquipment Development DepartmentRao WenminFormer Deputy Minister of the Equipment Development Department of the Central Military CommissionEquipment Development Department4 December 2023Ding LaihangFormer Air Force CommanderAir ForceIn November, it was reported that he was under investigation for corruption related to the construction of the Beijing West Subuherbs Airport.5 December 2023Li ChuangguangFormer Deputy Commander of the Rocket ForceRocket Force27 February 2024Li ZhizhongDeputy Commander of the Central Theater CommandGround ForceOnce served as the Minister of the Army Equipment Department11 July 2024Li ShangfuFormer member of the Central Military Commission and former Minister of National DefenseOnce served as the Minister of the Equipment Development Department of the Central Military Commission. On 26 July 2023, the Equipment Development Department of the Central Military Commission issued an announcement to solicit clues about violations of military equipment procurement bidding since October 2017 and to carry out a rectification campaign against violations of equipment procurement bidding regulations. On 28 July, the South China Morning Post quoted sources as saying that the Central Military Commission Discipline Inspection Commission and the PLA's auditing department were investigating Rocket Force Commander Li Yuchao, Deputy Commander Liu Guangbin and former Deputy Commander Zhang Zhenzhong. It was said that the three had been taken away by investigators from the Central Military Commission's anti-corruption agency.
On July 31, the Central Military Commission held a ceremony to promote Rocket Force Commander Wang Houbin and Political Commissar Xu Xisheng to the rank of general. This indicates that the former Rocket Force Commander Li Yuchao and Political Commissar Xu Zhongbo have both been transferred from their original positions and replaced by Wang Houbin, the former Deputy Commander of the Navy, and Xu Xisheng, the former Deputy Political Commissar of the Southern Theater Command and Political Commissar of the Theater Air Force.
Li Shangfu served as Minister of Equipment Development of the Central Military Commission from 2017 to 2022, and later as a member of the Central Military Commission, State Councilor and Minister of National Defense. He has not attended any public events since attending the China-Africa Peace and Security Forum in Beijing on August 29. The Central Military Commission Discipline Inspection Commission filed a case against him on August 31, and he was removed from his positions as a member of the Central Military Commission, State Councilor and Minister of National Defense by the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress on October 24.
On 21 September, Wei Fenghe, the former commander of the Rocket Force, who later became a member of the Central Military Commission, State Councilor, and Minister of National Defense, was placed under investigation by the Central Military Commission Discipline Inspection Commission. On 28 September, Li Tongjian, a major general of the Rocket Force, was dismissed from his position as a representative of the Beijing Municipal People's Congress by the military representatives of the troops stationed in Beijing for suspected serious violations of discipline and job-related crimes. This information was disclosed in the print edition of the Beijing Daily on November 25.
On December 29, the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress confirmed the termination of the qualifications of the nine National People's Congress deputies, namely Zhang Zhenzhong, Zhang Yulin, Rao Wenmin, Ju Xinchun, Ding Laihang, Lü Hong, Li Yuchao, Li Chuangguang and Zhou Yaning, and announced it to the outside world. The Standing Committee also appointed Admiral Dong Jun, the former commander, as Minister of National Defense. This was the first time that the Chinese government disclosed information about the violations of discipline and law by the senior officers of the Rocket Force.
On 7 February 2024, Wei Fenghe, the retired former State Councilor and Minister of National Defense, was not included in the list of those who visited veteran comrades before the Spring Festival released by Xinhua News Agency. However, in April 2024, after the death of Uyunqimuge, the former Vice Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, Wei Fenghe, together with former State Councilors Dai Bingguo, Chang Wanquan, and Zhao Kezhi, sent a wreath. On 27 June 2024, Xi Jinping, General Secretary of the CCP Central Committee, chaired a meeting of the Politburo, which decided to expel Wei Fenghe and Li Shangfu from the Party and transfer their suspected crimes to the military procuratorate for review and prosecution. Previously, the Central Military Commission had expelled the two from the military and revoked their rank of general.
On 18 July 2024, the third plenary session of the 20th CCP Central Committee adopted the investigation report on the serious violations of discipline and law by Li Shangfu, Li Yuchao, and Sun Jinming, confirming the punishment of expulsion from the Party previously given to the three by the Politburo. On 11 October 2024, Xiao Longxu, chief engineer and researcher of the Rocket Force Research Institute, was removed from his position as a member of the 14th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference. It is said that his removal was related to this case. His resume has been deleted from the official website of the Chinese Academy.
On 7 May 2026, Wei Fenghe and Li Shangfu was sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve, and no further commutation or parole will be allowed after their penalties are commuted to life imprisonment upon the expiration of the two-year reprieve period.
Military enterprises On 13 December 2023, Guo Pingxiao, executive deputy director of the Science and Technology Committee of Beiben Heavy-Duty Truck Group, a subsidiary of China North Industries Group Corporation Limited (NORINCO), was investigated. On 27 December, the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) revoked the CPPCC membership of Wu Yansheng, Liu Shiquan, and Wang Changqing and requested the Fifth Standing Committee meeting to ratify the decision. Wu Yansheng is the chairman of China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation ; Liu Shiquan is the chairman of China North Industries Group Corporation Limited (NORINCO ) and was formerly the general manager of China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation Limited (CASIC); Wang Changqing is the vice general manager of CASIC and was formerly the vice president of the Third Research Institute (responsible for missile research and development) under the group.