The outer wall of the Henan Provincial High Court was graffitied with phrases like "corrupt officials," "collusion," "officials shielding each other," "corruption and injustice," and "a miserable end awaits" (Internet image).
[People News] Although Xi Jinping, the General Secretary of the Communist Party of China, proclaimed at the third plenary session of the 20th Central Commission for Discipline Inspection in early 2024 that the anti-corruption campaign had achieved overwhelming success and was fully consolidated, this assertion has been publicly contradicted by CCP officials on multiple occasions. Recently (April 23), the CCP's official media reported the national anti-corruption 'report card' for the first quarter of 2026, revealing data that has caused a sensation online: in just three months, 23,000 current and former village party secretaries and village directors have been investigated and dealt with. This anti-corruption achievement shows a year-on-year increase; for instance, in 2025, 19,000 individuals were investigated, while in 2024, the number was 13,000. This indicates that the CCP's officialdom is already deeply entrenched in corruption, with 'fly and ant corruption' pervasive in every corner of the bureaucracy, and corrupt officials are inescapable; even the smallest mountain villages have been thoroughly compromised.
Furthermore, official anti-corruption data indicate that from January to September 2024, national disciplinary inspection and supervision agencies filed a total of 642,000 cases, involving 58 officials at the provincial and ministerial levels, 3,263 at the departmental level, approximately 26,000 at the county level, and 89,000 at the township level, including 77,000 current or former village party secretaries and village committee directors under investigation. This information has drawn significant external attention. These figures reflect that the CCP's corrupt officials are inexhaustible, and the CCP's authoritarian system serves as a breeding ground that continuously generates corrupt officials.
Some netizens believe that the investigation of 77,000 village party secretaries and village directors represents a significant proportion, yet they suspect that 'the majority have not been reported.' Others comment on the seemingly endless anti-corruption news, stating that 'everything from top to bottom is rotten,' suggesting that what has been revealed is merely the tip of the iceberg.
So, who is consuming the 'lifeline funds' of the common people?
Public data indicates that there are currently around 600,000 administrative villages in China, with some areas having individuals serving simultaneously as both village party secretary and village director. These village officials wield power without any oversight mechanisms, which greatly facilitates the unchecked behaviour of corrupt officials. They fixate on all accessible 'money bags,' directly harming the essential interests of the populace.
According to summaries from Chinese netizens, the corrupt practices of many village officials can be likened to 'plucking the feathers of passing geese,' primarily concentrated in three 'disaster areas':
Targeting farmers' 'lifeline funds': Rural pensions, minimum living allowances, and emergency funds for rural revitalisation have all become 'ATMs' for village cadres. They engage in forgery, create false lists, intercept, and even directly siphon off farmers' grain subsidies and funds for renovating dilapidated houses.
Exploiting collective 'fat': The collective land, fish ponds, and factories in the village are treated as personal property by village officials. Many village party secretaries manipulate land transfers behind closed doors, leasing collective assets at low prices to friends and family, and pocketing substantial kickbacks, thereby completely depleting the village's collective 'treasury.'
The 'local emperors' who engage in extortion: While village officials may hold low-ranking positions, they wield significant power over essential matters affecting people's livelihoods, such as the approval of homestead land, household registration, issuance of certificates, and processing of subsistence allowances, all of which require their signatures and seals. The extreme concentration of power in the hands of village secretaries, coupled with a lack of oversight, has led many village officials to become local bullies. Villagers often find themselves compelled to offer red envelopes as a 'token of appreciation' to facilitate the approval of homestead applications, obtain household registration certificates, or even apply for subsistence allowances. In some cases, village officials demand exorbitant bribes, and if their demands are not met, they create obstacles and make life difficult for the villagers. This blatant extortion by local tyrants severely obstructs rural livelihoods and deeply hurts the sentiments of the community.
Even more frustrating is the fact that some village officials reserve subsistence allowances and quotas for housing renovations for their friends and relatives, effectively sidelining those in genuine need. Additionally, they often award contracts for projects such as road construction, agricultural water management, and village committee buildings to their acquaintances, pocketing kickbacks in the process. This leads to subpar project quality, waste of collective funds, and adversely affects the daily lives and productivity of villagers.
Chinese netizens have noted that the staggering number of investigations highlights the serious issue of corruption at the grassroots level, and the corrupt practices of these local bullies pose a direct threat to the stability of the Communist Party's regime at the grassroots level. △
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