1. A former senior Shenzhen political adviser, Dai Beifang, has been expelled from the Chinese Communist Party and referred to prosecutors, marking the latest high-ranking official in Guangdong province targeted in China’s ongoing anticorruption campaign [para. 1]. China’s top anticorruption agency announced on June 22 that Dai, former chairman of the Shenzhen Municipal Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), was under investigation for alleged serious violations of party rules and law [para. 2]. His case brings to 30 the number of centrally managed officials disciplined and referred to judicial authorities so far in 2026 [para. 3].
2. The Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) and National Supervisory Commission accused Dai of abandoning his ideals, being disloyal to the party, and resisting organizational investigation [para. 4]. He was also found to have violated the party’s eight-point frugality code by improperly accepting gifts and banquets, breached organizational principles by helping others in personnel appointments, used his position to benefit relatives, failed to manage family members, and engaged in “large-scale power-for-money transactions” [para. 5]. Investigators stated that Dai used his posts to assist others in business operations, project contracting, and other matters, illegally accepting large amounts of money and property in return [para. 6]. The disciplinary notice said he seriously violated the party’s political, organizational, integrity, and lifestyle disciplines, committed serious duty-related violations, and was suspected of taking bribes, with his conduct especially serious as he failed to restrain himself after the party’s 18th National Congress in 2012 [para. 7].
3. Following approval by the Communist Party’s Central Committee, the CCDI announced that Dai would be expelled from the party, have his benefits canceled, forfeit illicit gains, and have his suspected crimes and related assets transferred to prosecutors for review and possible indictment [para. 8].
4. Dai, 69, was first announced to be under investigation on December 15, 2025 [para. 9]. He is the third senior Guangdong official to fall since the party’s 20th National Congress, following Li Chunsheng and Chen Jixing [para. 9]. After Dai, Guo Yonghang, a former Guangdong provincial party standing committee member and former Guangzhou party chief, was placed under investigation on March 27, 2026, and Ma Xingrui, a Politburo member who previously served as Guangdong governor, deputy party chief, and Shenzhen party secretary, was investigated on April 3 [para. 9]. Dai’s career began as a sent-down youth in 1973; he later studied at South China Normal University and entered government in 1982 through the Communist Youth League system [para. 10][para. 11]. He held various posts in Shenzhen, including deputy party secretary of Longgang district, party secretary of Yantian district, propaganda chief, secretary-general of the municipal party committee, head of the organization department, and deputy party secretary of Shenzhen, before becoming chairman of the Shenzhen CPPCC in 2015 and stepping down in 2020 due to age [para. 11][para. 12][para. 13].
5. After retirement, Dai remained active as president of the Shenzhen Charity Federation and Shenzhen Evergreen University for Seniors [para. 14]. His last known public appearance before his investigation was at a December 2, 2025, donation ceremony to support fire victims in Hong Kong [para. 14].
6. Dai’s career overlapped with several Shenzhen officials who later fell from power, including former mayors Xu Zongheng and Chen Rugui, and former party chief Ma Xingrui [para. 15]. Xu was investigated in 2009 and given a suspended death sentence in 2011 for taking over 33.18 million yuan in bribes [para. 16]. Chen was investigated in 2022 and sentenced to life in prison in 2024 for accepting over 108 million yuan in bribes [para. 17]. Ma served as Shenzhen party secretary from 2015 to 2016 while Dai was promoted [para. 18]. A Caixin review found that since Xu’s investigation, at least 12 officials from Shenzhen’s four main leadership bodies have been placed under investigation, including Xu, Dai, Ma, Chen, and others [para. 19].
AI generated, for reference only
Sign in with Google
Sign in with Facebook
Sign in with 财新