In China’s Jilin City, a giant billboard stands as a monument to how corrupt officials fall

CCTV series highlights how advertising screen owned by son became source of illicit income for ex-Communist Party boss of Jilin City

Zhang Xiaopei, who was expelled from the party in June, is alleged to have accepted ‘tens of millions of yuan’ in bribes

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Zhang Xiaopei, 66, is among four Jilin City party secretaries in a row to face corruption allegations. Photo: CCTV

Published: 7:00pm, 7 Jan 2024Updated: 12:04pm, 8 Jan 2024

A giant billboard in downtown Jilin City attracted attention not just because of its prominent position in the northeastern Chinese urban centre.

The advertising screen was also a lucrative source of illicit income for the city’s former Communist Party boss, according to the first episode of a four-part series that started airing on state broadcaster CCTV on Saturday night.

The billboard on an overpass in the commercial heart of Jilin City, in the northeastern province of the same name, was owned by the son of local party secretary Zhang Xiaopei, who rose to become vice-chairman of the Jilin provincial political advisory body before retiring in 2018.

He was expelled from the party in June last year, seven months after being placed under investigation for taking bribes.

CCTV series describes billboard as a way for Zhang Xiaopei to allow “his family to gain wealth” on the back of his power and influence. Photo: CCTV

Once business owners learned of the Zhang connection, they “took the initiative to spend huge sums of money [on renting the billboard], even though there was no demand for advertising”, the CCTV programme showed an official from the party’s top anti-corruption body as saying.

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