Chongqing mayor under investigation as China’s anti-corruption crackdown gathers pace
Hu Henghua is the highest-ranking official to fall from grace in the southwestern megacity in nearly a decade
Chongqing is among China’s four centrally administered municipalities – along with Beijing, Shanghai and Tianjin – placing it on the same administrative tier as a province.
Hu was born in the province of Hunan and spent most of his career there, including serving as mayor of the provincial capital, Changsha, from 2014 to 2016 and as secretary of Changsha’s municipal party committee from 2017 to 2020.
From October 2020 to December 2021, Hu served as deputy secretary of the provincial party committee in Shaanxi province. He became mayor of Chongqing in January 2022, following a one-month stint as acting mayor.
During his tenure as Chongqing mayor, Hu received one disciplinary sanction from the party. This related to a 2022 residential block collapse in Changsha that killed 54 people.
In May 2023, the CCDI found that Hu had failed to lead effective inspections for housing safety hazards during his tenure and issued a severe warning.