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

2026.03.20 11:20 Hu Henghua, mayor of Chongqing, is one of four full-ministerial-level officials to be investigated by anti-corruption authorities so far this year. Photo: Handout The mayor of the southwestern metropolis Chongqing has been put under investigation by China’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 its municipal committee of the Communist Party, 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 southern 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 then took up the post of mayor of Chongqing in January 2022, following a one-month stint as acting mayor. Hu had already received one disciplinary sanction during his tenure as mayor of Chongqing. In April 2022, a residential block in Changsha collapsed, killing 54 people. In May 2023, the CCDI found that Hu had failed to lead effective inspections for housing safety hazards during his tenure and imposed a severe warning within the party. Former Changsha party chief Yi Lianhong, who was Hu’s superior during his time as the city’s mayor, was announced to be under investigation in February. Yi also served as party chief of the provinces of Jiangxi and Zhejiang. When the CCDI announced the investigation on Friday, Hu had already missed several scheduled official appearances, sparking speculation about his standing. Chongqing’s top of

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