Li Xiaohong, a former senior disciplinary official in charge of national inspection, has been placed under investigation for suspected severe disciplinary and legal violations, China’s top anti-corruption authorities said on Tuesday.
The downfall of the 73-year-old veteran – known for spearheading high-level anti-corruption crackdowns and his top disciplinary roles at the securities regulator – underscores Beijing’s continued efforts to target corruption among its most senior disciplinary enforcers and financial industry heads.
Li was suspected of “serious violations of discipline and law” – a euphemism for corruption – and is currently under disciplinary review and supervisory investigation by the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI), according to a statement on its website.
Li’s fall, nine years after his retirement, is set to send shock waves through China’s financial sector and discipline inspection and supervision system, as he spent most of his political career in these two fields and held critical positions.
Li, a native of Hubei province, served as chairman and party secretary of the former Huaxia Securities in 2000, which was restructured into China Securities in 2005. Other posts included director of Citic Securities, party secretary and chairman of China Securities.
In 2006, Li transferred to the Beijing government as deputy secretary general, secretary general and director of the municipal authority’s general office, serving under the then-mayor Wang Qishan.
Wang, a former member of the Politburo Standing Committee, played a central role in spearheading President Xi Jinping’s anti-corruption campaign starting in 2013.
Li was appointed head of the discipline inspection commission at the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) in 2011, making him the most important disciplinary figure overseeing China’s vast financial sector.
He left his post at the securities regulator in 2013 and transferred to the central inspection system, where he took on the critical role of director of the office of the central leading group for inspection work in October that year.
This group was established by the party leadership as a regular supervision system to check on corruption and conduct problems at regional and ministerial party and government bodies after the 18th party congress the previous year.
During this period, Li helped to organise multiple rounds of routine and special central inspections. He retired from the post in 2017.
Xi has repeatedly called on China’s disciplinary system to “turn the blade inward” to identify and punish corrupt elements within the disciplinary and supervisory body since the roll-out of his hallmark anti-corruption campaign.
Dozens of disciplinary officials have faced investigation and jail terms in recent years, including Li’s successor Wang Huimin, who took over the disciplinary-chief role in 2014 after Li’s departure.
Wang Huimin was detained by the CCDI in March 2025. He was indicted on bribery charges this April. Prosecutors said the amount involved was especially large, without giving the exact details, and that Wang should be held criminally liable. He is awaiting sentencing.
On December 3, 2025, Li Gang, former disciplinary head at the Central Organisation Department – the ruling communist party’s top personnel office – was sentenced to 15 years’ imprisonment for taking more than 100 million yuan (US$14.7 million) in bribes. -- SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST
