Beijing’s investigations involving politically connected business networks could extend beyond Beijing Vice Mayor Xia Linmao and reach the families of China’s former leaders, according to Chinese regime insiders who spoke to The Epoch Times. 

The allegations include suspected corruption involving state-owned infrastructure projects and the supply chain of a leading Chinese technology company. The Epoch Times was unable to independently verify the claims.

One insider, identified as Wang, told The Epoch Times that on Oct. 19, the night Xia was detained, Chinese anti-corruption investigators also detained a member of former Premier Li Peng’s family and Li Haijin, the son of former deputy Chinese leader Li Yuanchao.

According to Wang, Li Peng’s family member was taken from Beijing’s Ritz-Carlton hotel, and Li Haijin was taken from a club associated with the Hong Kong Jockey Club in Beijing.

Wang said that the two men were cooperating with investigators and that regime authorities had not decided whether to formally arrest them or other members of their families. The regime has not publicly confirmed the alleged detentions or disclosed any allegations against the men.

The latest claims were made against the backdrop of Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s long-running “anti-corruption campaign,” which has targeted senior officials and, in some cases, their relatives and business associates. 

Another insider, identified as Chen, told The Epoch Times that the investigation into Xia involved several of his secretaries and that the case could have consequences for officials who promoted him. Chen said that some Party insiders viewed the investigation as a way to eventually pressure senior leader Cai Qi to retire next year. 

Cai is currently a high-ranking Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Politburo member and was a top official in Beijing from 2017 to 2022. Xia has served in several senior posts in Beijing.

The insiders did not provide verifiable evidence for most of the claims, and the CCP has not confirmed that the reported detentions took place.

Corruption Allegations

Wang alleged that Li Peng’s family member was implicated in several cases, including corruption involving construction projects at the state-owned China Three Gorges Corp., alleged misconduct associated with former official Ma Xingrui’s tenure as Shenzhen’s CCP secretary, and a previous fraud case.

The insider also alleged that the individual was connected to construction defects at the Three Gorges ship locks, saying that the project involved more than 2 billion yuan ($300 million) and that substandard concrete had caused extensive cracking and damage.

The same insider noted a series of allegations against Li Haijin, including one allegation concerning intermediary payments of about 340 million yuan ($51 million) from downstream suppliers in connection with procurement for a leading Chinese technology company during Ma’s tenure as Shenzhen CCP secretary.

Other allegations involved coal purchased through mining operations in Indonesia and resold to a subsidiary of the state-owned Chongqing Foreign Trade and Economic Group, as well as a roughly 600 million yuan ($90 million) water infrastructure renovation project allegedly involving Li Haijin’s business intermediary.

The Epoch Times cannot independently verify the allegations, and publicly available information about Li Haijin’s business activities is limited.

Li Haijin’s father, Li Yuanchao, served as head of the CCP’s Organization Department before becoming vice president of China from 2013 to 2018. Li Peng, who served as premier from 1987 to 1998, was a prominent figure in an earlier generation of CCP leadership. Li Peng was also notoriously dubbed the “Butcher of Beijing” for ordering the brutal Tiananmen Square massacre in 1989.

The allegations concerning overseas fraud operations also referenced networks of Sun Lijun, a former vice minister of public security who was sentenced to prison for corruption-related offenses.

Another insider, identified as “Zhang,” alleged that then-CCP leader Jiang Zemin had reached informal political understandings during the leadership transition around the 16th Party Congress in 2002 to shield certain current and retired leaders’ families from future investigation.

The families named by the insider included those of Li Peng, Li Ruihuan, former premier Wen Jiabao, Zeng Qinghong, Jia Qinglin, Huang Ju, Wu Guanzheng, and Luo Gan. Zhang also alleged that Jiang and Li Peng had separately agreed not to pursue members of Li Peng’s family.

The alleged protections were described as informal political arrangements, and they cannot be independently verified by The Epoch Times.

Jiang Zemin was notorious for launching the brutal persecution campaign against Falun Gong practitioners starting in July 1999.

Leng Feng and Liu Yun contributed to this report.