The figure is 12 per cent higher than the 58 senior officials caught in the anti-corruption fight in 2024 – surpassing the peak set just a year earlier.
Those detained included top officials in charge of China’s provinces and cities, senior administrators in ministries, top financial regulators and bankers, senior executives of state-owned enterprises and presidents of prestigious universities.
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On Tuesday, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI), China’s top discipline and anti-corruption body, announced the detention of Zhang Shiping, 71, former vice-chairwoman of the All-China Federation of Trade Unions, for suspected corruption, making her the 65th high-ranking official ensnared in 2025.
Zhang was transferred to the trade union in 2008 after spending three decades with the All-China Women’s Federation, the official body overseeing women’s affairs. Her downfall came seven years after her retirement.
These “tigers” are usually ranked at the deputy ministerial level or above. Some hold slightly lower ranks but occupy key positions in important sectors. They are directly managed by the Communist Party’s Central Organisation Department, its top personnel body, and face top-level investigation by the CCDI if they are suspected of any wrongdoing.
