Corruption is Everywhere > Even in China's megacity of Chongqing

 

Chongqing mayor under investigation as China’s anti-corruption crackdown gathers pace

Hu Henghua is the highest-ranking official to fall from grace in the southwestern megacity in nearly a decade

Yuanyue Dangin Beijing

Published: 6:52pm, 20 Mar 2026 Updated: 8:37pm, 20 Mar 2026

The mayor of China’s southwestern metropolis of Chongqing has been placed under investigation by the country’s top anti-corruption agency.

The Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) issued a statement on Friday saying that Hu Henghua, mayor of Chongqing and deputy secretary of the city’s Communist Party municipal committee, was under investigation for “serious violations of discipline and law” – a term commonly used to refer to corruption.

Chongqing is among China’s four centrally administered municipalities – along with Beijing, Shanghai and Tianjin – placing it on the same administrative tier as a province.

Hu was born in the province of Hunan and spent most of his career there, including serving as mayor of the provincial capital, Changsha, from 2014 to 2016 and as secretary of Changsha’s municipal party committee from 2017 to 2020.

From October 2020 to December 2021, Hu served as deputy secretary of the provincial party committee in Shaanxi province. He became mayor of Chongqing in January 2022, following a one-month stint as acting mayor.

During his tenure as Chongqing mayor, Hu received one disciplinary sanction from the party. This related to a 2022 residential block collapse in Changsha that killed 54 people.

In May 2023, the CCDI found that Hu had failed to lead effective inspections for housing safety hazards during his tenure and issued a severe warning.

Former Changsha party chief Yi Lianhong, who was Hu’s superior during his time as city mayor, was announced to be under investigation in February. Yi also served as party chief of the provinces of Jiangxi and Zhejiang.

Before Friday’s CCDI announcement, Hu had already missed several scheduled official appearances, sparking speculation about his political standing.

Chongqing’s top official, party secretary Yuan Jiajun, is also a member of the Politburo, the party’s elite body. Hu, the second-ranking official, is a member of the Central Committee, the party’s decision-making inner circle with over 200 full members.

Hu is the highest-ranking Chongqing official to have fallen from grace since the 2017 downfall of Sun Zhengcai, the former municipal party secretary and a Politburo member. Sun’s fall was followed by investigations into five officials who had served as vice-mayors of Chongqing.

The number of senior officials under investigation annually has risen steadily in recent years. These officials are typically at the level of vice-minister or vice-governor or above.

Starting from 18 in 2020, the figure nearly doubled to 32 by 2022 before surging to 45 in 2023 and hitting a record 65 last year.

Including Hu, four full-ministerial-level officials have been placed under investigation this year – half the total from all of last year.

Top leaders, including President Xi Jinping, have repeatedly emphasised that China’s anti-corruption campaign would continue to intensify.