China Senior Official Sacked in First Anti-Graft Case of 2026

Tian Xuebin’s detention marks the opening salvo of 2026 as Xi Jinping tightens the Chinese Communist Party’s anti-corruption campaign.

A man walks near red flags on Tiananmen Square during a preparatory session meeting of China's rubber-stamp legislature, the National People's Congress, in Beijing on March 4, 2025. Vincent Thian/AP Photo

The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has placed a veteran official of the powerful State Council under investigation for corruption, the first high-profile case of 2026 as CCP leader Xi Jinping’s decade-long anti-corruption campaign continues.

The Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI), the Party’s top disciplinary and anti-graft body, announced on Jan. 5 that Tian Xuebin, 62, had been detained for “suspected serious violations of discipline and law.”