Chinese President Xi Jinping’s relatives continue to hold millions of dollars in business ventures and financial investments, suggests a recent US intelligence report.
The findings also suggest that despite Xi’s decade-long anti-corruption drive, which has seen the prosecution of millions of officials across all levels of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) there still remains “endemic” corruption inside his party.
Report findings
The report, by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), suggests that Xi’s family has leveraged political connections to maintain substantial financial interests, both in private and state-owned enterprises.
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“Their high-ranking positions could have provided them with access to privileged information, and both private and state-run enterprise activities might have benefited family investments due to their associations with people in political authority,” said the ODNI in the report.
Persistent corruption despite crackdown
Since taking power in 2012, Xi has framed his sweeping anti-corruption campaign as an effort to clean up the party, targeting both high-ranking “tigers” and lower-level “flies.” However, the ODNI report argues that corruption remains deeply entrenched in China’s political system.
“Corruption is an endemic feature of and challenge for China, enabled by a political system with power highly centralized in the hands of the CCP, a CCP-centric concept of the rule of law, a lack of independent checks on public officials, and limited transparency,” the report stated.
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According to ODNI estimates, as many as 65 per cent of government officials in China receive illicit income through bribery or graft. The report highlighted research suggesting that top party leaders, including Xi’s own relatives, have amassed significant wealth through political influence and privileged access to state resources.
“Corruption in China often involves money in the form of different types of bribery or graft, and open-source research has demonstrated that some officials and their families have amassed significant wealth due to their positions and connections,” it stated.
Wealth linked to Xi’s family
The intelligence assessment, compiled under the 2023 National Defense Authorization Act, states that Xi’s siblings, nieces, and nephews collectively “held assets worth over $1 billion in business investments and real estate”. Similar wealth accumulation was noted in the family of former Premier Wen Jiabao, whose relatives reportedly controlled at least $2.7 billion in 2012.
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While the report did not find direct evidence linking Xi or Wen to personal financial dealings, it noted that their family members likely benefited from insider information and state-controlled enterprise decisions.
“Their senior-level positions would have granted access to privileged information and both private and state-owned enterprise actions could have advantaged family holdings due to their connections to persons with political power,” the ODNI report stated.
(With inputs from agencies)
