A senior official at the vice-ministerial level was dismissed from office, and many of his former subordinates in the same position have been investigated.

The anti-corruption campaign continues, with Guangdong Provincial Political Consultative Conference Vice Chairman Guo Yonghang dismissed from his position.

On March 27, the website of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and the National Supervisory Commission announced that Guo Yonghang, a member of the Guangdong Provincial Political Consultative Conference Party Group and Vice Chairman, is suspected of serious violations of discipline and law, and is currently undergoing disciplinary review and supervisory investigation by the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and the National Supervisory Commission.

Guo Yonghang has worked in Guangdong Province for a long time and has held positions as a member of the Shenzhen Municipal Committee Standing Committee and Secretary-General, Secretary of the Zhuhai Municipal Committee, Vice Governor of Guangdong Province, Mayor of Guangzhou, member of the Guangdong Provincial Committee, Secretary of the Guangzhou Municipal Committee, and Vice Chairman of the Guangdong Provincial Political Consultative Conference.

Still attended a provincial political consultative conference ten days ago

Ten days ago, Guo Yonghang still attended a provincial political consultative conference. According to the Southern Network, the official website of the Guangdong Provincial Committee, on March 16, the Guangdong Provincial Political Consultative Conference held an expanded meeting of the Party Group and the 41st chairman meeting of the 13th session, where Vice Chairman Guo Yonghang delivered a speech.

Guo Yonghang was born in October 1965 in Jiyang, Shandong. He studied in the History Department of Wuhan University in the 1980s and became a staff member in the Publicity Department of the Shenzhen Municipal Committee in Guangdong Province after graduation.

After that, he honed his skills in the Organization Department of the Shenzhen Municipal Committee and the Secretariat of the Shenzhen Municipal Committee. In March 2002, he was appointed Deputy Director of the Publicity Department of the Shenzhen Municipal Committee, and in August 2009, he became Deputy Secretary-General of the Shenzhen Municipal Committee.

Following that, Guo Yonghang served as Secretary of the Yantian District Committee in Shenzhen, and in May 2015, he became a member of the Shenzhen Municipal Committee Standing Committee and Secretary-General. After nearly three years as a member of the Shenzhen Municipal Committee Standing Committee and Secretary-General, he transitioned to Zhuhai City as the Municipal Committee Secretary in February 2018.

In October 2021, 56-year-old Guo Yonghang was appointed Vice Governor of Guangdong Province, became Mayor of Guangzhou in January 2022, and assumed the position of member of the Guangdong Provincial Committee and Secretary of the Guangzhou Municipal Committee in June 2023. Since October 2021, he has taken on three new positions in less than two years.

After serving as Mayor of Guangzhou for two and a half years, Guo Yonghang transferred to the position of Vice Chairman of the Guangdong Provincial Political Consultative Conference in January this year, and about two months later, he was dismissed from his position.

On the day Guo Yonghang’s investigation was announced, the Guangdong Provincial Committee Standing Committee held a meeting to report on his serious violations of discipline and law and his acceptance of disciplinary review and supervisory investigation by the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and the National Supervisory Commission. The attending members unanimously expressed their firm support for the decisions of the Central Committee and the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and the National Supervisory Commission.

The meeting emphasized that leaders at all levels must always hold themselves to a strict standard, take the lead in strengthening theoretical armed forces, strictly observe discipline and rules, lead by example in integrity and self-discipline, and accept supervision, ensuring they are strict with themselves, responsible, and manage those under their jurisdiction strictly.

After the Guangdong Provincial Committee Standing Committee meeting on March 27, the main leaders of the Guangdong Provincial Political Consultative Conference held an expanded meeting of the Party Group to report on Guo Yonghang’s serious violations of discipline and law and his acceptance of disciplinary review and supervisory investigation by the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and the National Supervisory Commission.

The attending members unanimously expressed their firm support for the decisions of the Central Committee and the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and the National Supervisory Commission.

The meeting mentioned the need to deeply learn from the lessons, maintain a perpetual alarm, strictly observe discipline and rules, and thoroughly implement the spirit of the Central Eight Regulations and their implementation details, ensuring a firm response to the Central Committee’s advocacy, resolute execution of the Central Committee’s decisions, and strict non-compliance with the prohibitions of the Central Committee.

While governing Zhuhai, many former subordinates were investigated

Looking back at Guo Yonghang’s political career, he has worked in Guangdong for more than 36 years, including over 28 years in Shenzhen, roughly 3 years and 9 months as the head of Zhuhai City, and nearly a year and a half as Mayor of Guangzhou, governing Guangzhou for about two and a half years.

Recently, in places where he has previously served, several officials who had worked with Guo Yonghang have been investigated. In December last year, Dai Beifang, the former Party Group Secretary and Chairman of the Shenzhen Municipal Political Consultative Conference, who had retired for five years, was investigated.

Information shows that Dai Beifang worked in Shenzhen for a long time and held positions such as member of the Municipal Committee Standing Committee, Minister of the Publicity Department, member of the Municipal Committee Standing Committee, Secretary-General, and member of the Municipal Committee Standing Committee, Minister of the Organization Department. When Dai Beifang was Secretary-General of the Municipal Committee, Guo Yonghang served as Deputy Secretary-General of the Shenzhen Municipal Committee.

In early January and late February of this year, Guo Caiwu, a member of the Zhuhai Municipal Committee Standing Committee and Minister of the United Front Work Department, and Liang Zhaoxiong, a second-level inspector in Zhuhai, were investigated consecutively.

Data shows that when Guo Yonghang was Secretary of the Zhuhai Municipal Committee, Guo Caiwu served as a member of the Zhuhai Municipal Committee Standing Committee and Minister of the United Front Work Department, while Liang Zhaoxiong held positions such as Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee of the Zhuhai High-tech Zone Management Committee and Director of the Zhuhai Municipal Letters and Visits Bureau.

Public reports indicate that Guo Yonghang had promoted the reform of state-owned enterprises in Zhuhai. The “Reorganization and Integration Plan for State-owned Enterprises in Zhuhai” issued by the Zhuhai Municipal Government mentions adjusting and optimizing the structure of state-owned capital through methods such as equity integration, asset replacement, free transfer, and strategic cooperation to promote strategic adjustment and reorganization of state-owned capital. After the reform, the number of state-owned enterprises in Zhuhai officially changed from 16 to 12.

In recent years, many people in Zhuhai’s state-owned assets system have been investigated. In July 2024, Li Congshan, the then Director of the Zhuhai Municipal Bureau of Industry and Information Technology, was investigated. When Guo Yonghang was Secretary of the Zhuhai Municipal Committee, Li Congshan served as the Director of the Zhuhai State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission, overseeing the reform of state-owned enterprises.

Information from the Zhuhai Municipal Commission for Discipline Inspection and Supervision’s official website shows that from July 2024 to the end of December 2025, at least 10 senior executives such as chairmen, general managers, and deputy general managers of state-owned enterprises in Zhuhai were investigated.

Reporter: Tong Xizhong

(tongxizhong@chinanews.com)

Editor: Sun Xiaobo