'Hunted' official slid deeper into corruption

From being "hunted" by businessmen to willingly engaging in power-for-money transactions, Jiang Chaoliang, former Party secretary of Hubei province, fell into the depths of corruption by consistently abusing his power in order to "take care" of his younger brothers, according to the details of a case released in a documentary that aired late Tuesday.

Jiang, who came under investigation in February 2025, had previously served as deputy director of the Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee of the 14th National People's Congress, China's top legislature, chairman of Agricultural Bank of China and governor of Jilin province.

"From the beginning, I had ambiguous relationships with those businessmen. Gradually, I became willing to be corrupted — to be 'hunted' — and even took the initiative to throw myself into their arms. This is shameful," Jiang confessed in the documentary.

As early as the 1990s, when Jiang was a mid-level official at Agricultural Bank of China, businessman Li Yuanguang began "cultivating" the relationship with him. Every Spring Festival, Li visited Jiang's mother, gifting her 20,000 yuan ($2,865) in small bills for mahjong, after she rejected direct payments.

"His 'hunting' targeted not just me, but my whole family, leaving us dependent on him," Jiang said.

As Jiang rose through the ranks, Li expanded his "services" — managing the education, investments and medical care of Jiang's family members — effectively acting as the family's "general manager". For a decade, Li catered to the family's every need without asking for anything in return, thereby fostering Jiang's sense of indebtedness, until it was time for Li to ask for something in return.

In 2011, with Jiang being the top leader of Agricultural Bank of China, Li secured approval for a large ATM procurement contract, reaping huge profits.

Li also invited Jiang's younger brothers to become "shareholders" in his company, and continued to seek project approvals and loans.

Jiang's brothers exploited his power to gain easy benefits, forming an interest community with him. The trio sank deeper into corruption, with Jiang's brothers acting as "front men" for businessmen.

Sensing the brothers' influence over Jiang, businessmen sought to "hunt" him through them. When Jiang became Hubei's Party secretary in 2016, people with various motives flocked to him, and his brothers quickly felt the enormous value he brought.

In Xiaogan, a city in Hubei, one of Jiang's brothers secured major projects through Jiang's influence and resold them for huge profits, which was approved by Pan Qisheng, the city's former Party secretary.

Being the former chairman of a provincial State-owned enterprise in Hubei, Pan curried favor with Jiang through his brother to fast-track Pan's career. Pan was promoted twice in a year, becoming director of the Hubei Provincial State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission and then Xiaogan Party secretary.

To cement ties with Jiang, Pan immediately awarded a string of major projects to Jiang's brother after taking office.

Pan was expelled from the Party and dismissed from office in January 2021.

Furthermore, to obtain Jiang's help in business operations, loan approvals and project contracting, these businessmen either directly gave huge benefits or advanced large investment funds to his brothers in the name of joint business ventures, or offered them original shares and reduced project cooperation fees — all aiming to secure Jiang's influence with heavy bribes.

"It became a project-based model — no trivial exchanges, just power-for-money deals through my brothers," Jiang said.

In October 2025, Jiang was expelled from the Party and dismissed from office, with his criminal case transferred to procuratorial organs. His accomplices and bribers were also punished.

"I abused the power entrusted to me by the people for personal and family gain, failing the Communist Party of China Central Committee, financial institutions, the people of Hubei and my parents," Jiang said remorsefully.

The CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and the National Commission of Supervision emphasized that "hunting" officials polluted the political ecosystem and eroded social conduct. The authorities said that without eliminating this source of pollution, corruption would remain an intractable cycle in which investigations struggle to keep up with new cases.

yangzekun@chinadaily.com.cn