Publicly Investigating Ma Xingrui While Secretly Casting a Giant Net Over Xi Jinping

Dark clouds loom over Beijing’s Tiananmen Square. (Feng Li/Getty Images)

[People News] On November 28, the CCP Politburo held a meeting followed by a collective study session. State media footage showed that Li Xi—Politburo Standing Committee member and head of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI)—and Politburo member Ma Xingrui were both absent since Ma stepped down as Xinjiang Party Secretary. Rumours about his downfall have been constant.

According to a revelation by self-media commentator Jiang Wangzheng, Ma Xingrui may become the first “tiger” sacrificed by the CCP in 2026. During his four years in Xinjiang, Ma oversaw 3.3 trillion yuan in construction funding and pocketed 100 billion yuan for himself. But Ma did not keep the money to himself—he allegedly shared it with Li Xi and the Xi family.
Jiang further claimed that the wives of Ma Xingrui, Li Xi, and Gao Shiwen (Deputy Secretary of Nanchang, Jiangxi) bought entire buildings in Hong Kong, and overseas, they bought large numbers of gas stations and plots of land. Jiang described Ma’s circle as “buying whole asset bundles.”

Meanwhile, according to an article by the blogger “Lei Ge’s Perspective” on Wanwei, various signs suggest that Ma Xingrui is not the ultimate target. The real direction of the Ma case points toward Xi Jinping, and a giant net is being cast nationwide aimed at Xi himself.

The article explains that the investigation into Ma Xingrui began by breaking through his long-time secretary Li Guanglu, his younger brother Ma Xingquan, and Ma’s wife Rong Li.
Ma’s younger brother, Ma Xingquan, is the legal representative of numerous companies registered in Shuangyashan—his hometown—and in Beijing, all containing the character “Xing” (or its homophone “Xin”). Using Ma Xingrui’s influence, he made enormous profits. In September this year, Heilongjiang CCDI deputy secretary Luo Liping led a team to raid Ma Xingquan’s properties.
Ma Xingquan owned at least four homes—in Shuangyashan (two homes: the family’s old house and a villa), Harbin, and Beijing. CCDI found more than 300 million yuan in cash in these homes—only part of his total assets.

Ma’s secretary Li Guanglu, who served him for decades, knew many intimate secrets of Ma and his wife Rong Li. After being taken away by the CCDI, Li “surrendered” quickly and confessed much about Ma Xingrui and Rong Li.

Ma Xingrui was born in Shuangyashan, Heilongjiang, but his ancestral home is Yuncheng in Shandong—the same as Peng Liyuan’s—which became a point of connection. But what truly brought the families close was the relationship between Ma’s wife, Rong Li and Peng Liyuan; the two reportedly became close confidantes. Because of her special relationship with Peng Liyuan, Rong Li had immense influence and was able to secure lucrative projects across China. Moreover, she did not keep all the money she collected—she was very likely acting as a “white glove” for Xi Jinping’s family.

The article states that by completely investigating Xi’s key subordinate, Ma Xingrui and his wife, investigators can obtain significant leverage over the Xi family. Earlier, the probe into Vanke chairman Xin Jie in Shenzhen was essentially an investigation into Xi Jinping’s eldest sister’s private financial vault in Shenzhen. In Xi’an, the investigation into Fang Hongwei targeted the various businesses of Xi Jinping’s brother, Xi Yuanping, in Shaanxi. The real objective is to uncover evidence of Xi Jinping’s wrongdoing.

According to “Lei Ge’s Perspective,” the anti-Xi faction now holds solid evidence of corruption by the Xi family. They are prepared to release it at any time to force Xi to submit or, after Xi is toppled, to destroy his reputation as needed.