China’s anti-corruption campaign is expanding beyond government agencies and state-owned enterprises into village-level organizations that are legally classified as self-governing bodies rather than part of the state bureaucracy, according to recent official announcements and China-based analysts.
The analysts spoke to The Epoch Times on condition of anonymity out of fear of reprisal.
In recent weeks, the Chinese regime has announced investigations into a series of former village committee heads, particularly in Beijing, signaling an effort to tighten oversight of collectively owned rural land, compensation funds, and village assets amid mounting fiscal pressures.
Unlike the regime’s government officials, village committee directors are elected by local residents, hold no official administrative rank, and are not civil servants. Yet, they often oversee valuable collective resources, making them increasingly attractive targets in Beijing’s expanding anti-corruption campaign.
Rural Collective Assets
A China-based lawyer told The Epoch Times that village committees are legally grassroots self-governing organizations rather than government agencies.
“In the past, it was rare to see the [regime’s] disciplinary authorities announce corruption investigations involving village committee directors,” he said. “Over the past few months, even village chiefs and Party branch secretaries—who are not considered government officials at all—have come under investigation.”
According to the lawyer, the regime now appears less concerned with whether an individual holds an official government post than with whether they control land, demolition compensation, or other collective assets.
“That signals a comprehensive tightening of financial control,” he said.
Although village committee directors have no administrative rank, they often manage collectively owned farmland, residential land-use rights, demolition compensation, village fees, and commercial properties.
“Some village collectives control operating assets whose value exceeds that of ordinary township government departments,” the lawyer said. “That’s why they have now been brought under the disciplinary authorities’ supervision.”
Multiple Village Leaders Investigated
Beijing authorities have announced investigations into at least five village-level officials within less than a month.
On July 17, the Beijing Municipal Commission for Discipline Inspection announced that Qin Siliang, former director of the village committee in Qianzhang Village, Shangzhuang Township, Haidian District, was under investigation for alleged “serious violations of discipline and law.”
Other officials investigated since late June include former village committee director Zhang Jibin of Fangguang Village in Pinggu District; former village Party secretary and village committee director Li Xin of Zhuanghu Village in Fengtai District; former village Party secretary and village committee director Xu He of Huzhuang Village in Pinggu District; and former village Party secretary and former head of an economic cooperative, Chen Guochun, from Fangshan District.
The trend extends beyond Beijing.
Regime authorities in Anhui Province announced investigations this month into Peng Chuang, former Party secretary and village committee director of Machang Village in Suzhou City; Yang Chuanbei, former village committee director of Yangwei Village in Bengbu City; and Yao Guoyou, former Party secretary and village committee director of Suntian Village in Xiuning County.
A Chinese scholar in constitutional law told The Epoch Times that village committee directors formally belong to mass organizations outside China’s state administrative system, even though they operate under the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
“Land is nominally owned by village collectives, but ordinary villagers have little say over how it is used,” the scholar said.
He argued that village officials have long controlled significant resources despite holding low-ranking positions.
“When the economy was doing well, corruption by village officials was largely tolerated,” he said. “Now that the economy has deteriorated, the regime see villages leaders as another source of valuable assets.”
The scholar said the anti-corruption campaign has steadily expanded from senior national officials to local governments, township authorities, village leaders, and in some areas even village police.
“It shows that from ‘tigers’ to ‘flies,’ they are now pursuing even the smallest targets,” he said.
State Control Over Rural Resources
A Chinese scholar in politics, surnamed Sun, told The Epoch Times that Beijing’s latest investigations are aimed not only at rooting out corruption at the grassroots level but also at strengthening state control over rural collective resources.
In recent years, the Chinese regime has described corruption involving village officials as “fly-sized corruption,” referring to abuses committed by low-level cadres. Collective rural funds, assets, and land resources have increasingly been designated as key targets of disciplinary campaigns.
“Village committee directors are not even comparable to the lowest-ranking traditional officials,” Sun said. “But as long as they manage land, collective funds, or village assets, they can still become targets of investigations by the Party’s disciplinary authorities.”
He said the campaign also reflects the CCP’s expanding Party control into areas that are legally intended to function as institutions of village self-governance.
