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On 9 February, the Ningxia Autonomous Region Discipline Inspection Commission's Supervision Commission's website published the news that Xu Qing, a former member of the party leading group and vice mayor of the Yinchuan Municipal Government, had seriously violated discipline and the law, and after being studied by the Standing Committee of the Autonomous Regional Discipline Inspection Commission and reported to the autonomous regional party committee for approval, it was decided to give Xu Qing the punishment of expulsion from the party and dismissal from public office; and his suspected crimes were transferred to the procuratorial organs for examination and prosecution according to law.
Upstream News (e-mail: [email protected]) reporter noted that nearly 4 years ago, Xu Qing has been dismissed from the post of vice mayor of Yinchuan City. Why it was investigated and "double-opened" after 4 years, there are many opinions. There are local rumors that Xu Qing was investigated or related to the Silk Road Pearl Tower, which is known as the "tallest tower in the northwest".
In October 2021, the General Office of the State Council issued the Circular on the Illegal Construction of Buildings, Halls and Pavilions in Some Debt-Ridden Areas, which criticized the preparation of the "Silk Road Pearl Tower" by name. Upstream reporters learned from public sources that Xu Qing had been one of the responsible leaders of the project.
▲ After Xu Qing was investigated, he confessed, "I really didn't expect to commit such a big crime." Image credits/video screenshots
He was dismissed from his post four years ago due to the contamination incident of Terry Pharmaceutical
Xu Qing, born in 1964, a native of Hangzhou, Zhejiang, entered the Ningxia Construction Engineering School in 1982 to study civil engineering, and after graduation, entered the General Engineering Office of the Urban and Rural Construction Commission of Yinchuan City, and since then, Xu Qing has been engaged in urban construction and other related work in the Yinchuan government system.
In 2002, Xu Qing was promoted to deputy secretary-general of Yinchuan Municipal Government, and in 2010, he was transferred to the director of Yinchuan Municipal Construction Bureau. In the following five years, Xu Qing successively served as a "number one" in Yinchuan Municipal Housing Security Bureau, Municipal Housing Reform Office, Municipal Planning Bureau and other departments.
In 2015, Xu Qing was appointed vice mayor of Yinchuan Municipal People's Government.
On August 18, 2018, Xu Qing was dismissed from his post. The main reason for Xu Qing's dismissal is related to the environmental pollution of Ningxia Tairui Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., a "big taxpayer" in Yongning County, Ningxia.
Ningxia Tairui Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., located in Yongning County, is a large fermentation pharmaceutical enterprise and a large taxpayer in Yongning County. In the process of fermentation production and sewage treatment, Terry Pharmaceutical emits foul-smelling gases such as hydrogen sulfide and methyl sulfide ether, and the surrounding residents have been plagued by odors.
In 2016, the Central Environmental Protection Inspection Group inspected Ningxia and pointed out in the feedback that the problems of odor disturbance of pharmaceutical enterprises in Yongning County have not been solved for a long time, including Terry Pharmaceutical.
On June 1, 2018, the Central Environmental Protection Inspection Team entered Ningxia for a "review". On the day of stationing, the inspection team received many reports from the masses that Terry Pharmaceutical was foul-smelling and disturbing, and the on-site inspector of the inspection team found that the management of the enterprise was extensive and the surface was rectified.
Subsequently, the then secretary of the party committee of Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region and the chairman of the autonomous regional government separately issued instructions on the pollution problem of Tairui Pharmaceutical, asking Yinchuan City to verify it as soon as possible and seriously rectify it.
However, on July 19 of that year, Terry Pharmaceutical issued a statement, "In order to completely solve the problem of contradictions and conflicts between urban development planning and enterprise development, it was decided to implement rolling relocation and relocate while producing without odor", and did not fulfill its commitment.
On August 18, 2018, the Standing Committee of the Party Committee of Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region held a meeting to listen to the report of the Yinchuan Municipal Party Committee on the unauthorized resumption of production of Terry Pharmaceutical, and to study and deal with the opinions. The meeting pointed out that in June 2018, the Second Environmental Protection Inspection Group of the Central Committee found that Terry Pharmaceutical had made false rectifications during the "review" of environmental protection inspections in Ningxia, and was exposed in the media, and Yinchuan City and Yongning County ordered enterprises to immediately stop production and rectify. However, since then, Terry Pharmaceutical has used 7 fermentation tanks to resume production without authorization. This is an extremely heinous and extremely serious incident.
Subsequently, Xu Qing, then secretary of the Yongning County Party Committee and county magistrate and vice mayor of Yinchuan City, who had supervisory responsibilities, was investigated.
According to public information, in January 2009, Xu Qing was the deputy secretary of the Yongning County Party Committee (at the level of a department).
On August 29, 2018, the 15th meeting of the Standing Committee of the 15th People's Congress of Yinchuan City passed and decided to remove Xu Qing from the post of vice mayor of yinchuan Municipal People's Government.
▲On August 31, 2018, Xu Qing was dismissed from the post of vice mayor of yinchuan municipal people's government. Image source/ Yinchuan Municipal Government Website
The "No. 1 Tallest Tower in the Northwest" project was criticized by the State Council by name
After Xu Qing was dismissed from the post of vice mayor of Yinchuan City, there was no news of him in public information.
On February 9, 2022, the Ningxia Autonomous Region Discipline Inspection Commission's Supervision Commission published a message on its website to inform Xu Qing, a former member of the party group and vice mayor of the Yinchuan Municipal Government, of serious violations of discipline and law, and decided to expel him from the party and dismiss him from public office; his suspected crimes were transferred to the procuratorial organs for review and prosecution according to law.
For Xu Qing's investigation, there are views that it may be related to the pollution problem of Tairui Pharmaceutical, but Xu Qing was dismissed from his post in August 2018, nearly 4 years ago.
It is understood that Xu Qing was investigated or related to the Silk Road Pearl Tower, which is known as the "tallest tower in the northwest", and he was one of the responsible leaders of the project.
In October 2021, the General Office of the State Council issued the Circular on the Illegal Construction of Buildings and Pavilions in Some Heavily Debt-Ridden Areas, which criticized the preparation of the "Silk Road Pearl Tower" by name.
▲The Circular of the General Office of the State Council on the Illegal Construction of Buildings and Halls in Ningxia and Other Areas. Image credit/web page screenshot
Ningxia Silk Road Pearl Tower Project is a comprehensive building planned and built by Yinchuan City integrating radio and television transmission, sightseeing tourism, business exhibitions, etc., located at the west end of Tuanjie Road, Yuehai Bay Central Business District, Yinchuan City, Ningxia, west of Yuehai, covering an area of 61,880.31 square meters, with a construction area of 175,000 square meters.
The Silk Road Pearl Tower first appeared on local government websites in December 2017.
In December 2018, Yinchuan City decided to jointly fund the construction by China Railway City Development and Investment Group Co., Ltd. and Yinchuan Tonglian Capital Investment and Operation Co., Ltd., a municipal state-owned enterprise. The actual funds in place for the project are 520 million yuan, of which 300 million yuan invested by Yinchuan Tonglian Capital Investment and Operation Co., Ltd. is all financial funds.
The upstream reporter noted that Yinchuan Tonglian Capital Investment and Operation Co., Ltd. is a local state-owned enterprise in Ningxia.
According to the preliminary plan, the total design height of the Silk Road Pearl Tower is 448.2 meters, and the building below 370 meters is used for construction. As the tallest landmark building in Yinchuan, after the completion of the Silk Road Pearl Tower, it will become the "third tallest" and "the tallest tower in the northwest" of the domestic sightseeing TV tower after the "little barbarian waist" in Guangzhou (tower height of 600 meters) and the "Oriental Pearl" in Shanghai (tower height of 467.9 meters).
▲According to the preliminary planning, the Silk Road Pearl Tower will become the third tallest tower in China. Image source/ Yinchuan Municipal Government Website
As one of the key projects in Yinchuan, from 2017 to the present, the project has been written into the local Government Work Report for three consecutive years. From the establishment of the project to the construction of the project, there are almost never exposed problems.
However, the top two towers in China are located in Guangzhou and Shanghai, respectively, and there is a significant gap in Yinchuan in terms of total GDP and permanent population, so the project has also been controversial in the local area before and after the preparation of the project.
In less than four years from the time of development to the shutdown, only 2 layers of concrete were poured on the 62-story core body. On June 13, 2021, the Silk Road Pearl Tower Project was suddenly announced to be suspended, and then it was listed for transfer. In the end, the project was transferred to a local real estate company in Ningxia for a listing price of 858 million.
▲On October 13, 2021, the silk road pearl tower under construction and the land use right transfer project were transferred to local housing enterprises in Ningxia for 858 million yuan. Image credit/web page screenshot
"Power in my hands has become a tool for seizing power and accumulating wealth"
In 2021, when upstream journalists investigated the Silk Road Pearl Tower project, they repeatedly heard about Xu Qing's relationship with the project.
The reporter noted that in the early stage of the project, in order to accelerate the construction, Yinchuan was once led by two vice mayors to set up a leading group for the promotion of the Silk Road Pearl Tower project, and the main responsible persons of multiple departments participated in it. Xu Qing was one of the responsible leaders of the project.
Local sources said that in Yinchuan, because Xu Qing had served as the "number one" of urban construction, planning and other departments, Xu Qing had "more real power" in the whole process of the construction of the project than other leaders.
Whether Xu Qing "profited" from the project was not officially disclosed.
On 9 February this year, the Ningxia Discipline Inspection Commission Supervision Commission pointed out in its circular on Xu Qing's issue that Xu Qing had taken advantage of his position and the convenience of his authority and position to seek benefits for others in the areas of project contracting, project fund allocation, and project examination and approval, and illegally accepted huge amounts of money and property.
The circular said: After investigation, Xu Qing lost his ideals and convictions, betrayed his original mission, lived a corrupt and degenerate life, was unclear and unambiguous in his dealings with private business owners, turned the power in his hands into a tool for seeking private interests, engaged in power-for-money transactions, provided false information to organizations, and resisted organizational censorship; violated the spirit of the eight central regulations, accepted gifts and gifts in violation of the law, and repeatedly accepted banquets that might affect the fair performance of official duties; did not report personal matters according to regulations; incorrectly performed his duties; morally corrupt; took advantage of his position and his powers. The convenient conditions for the formation of status have sought benefits for others in the areas of project contracting, project fund allocation, project approval, etc., and illegally accepting huge amounts of property.
▲ On February 9, 2022, the Ningxia Discipline Inspection Commission Supervision Commission released the news that Xu Qing, a former member of the party group and vice mayor of the Yinchuan Municipal Government, was expelled from the party and dismissed from public office. Image credit/web page screenshot
After Xu Qing was "double-opened," the Ningxia Discipline Inspection Commission Supervision Commission also disclosed a video of Xu Qing's confession. "I felt like the sky was about to fall, and I really didn't expect to commit such a big crime." In the video, Xu Qing confessed.
Xu Qing said that he was assigned to the Yinchuan Municipal Construction Committee as soon as he joined the work, and he had done pure technical work for ten years before, and he had developed a bad habit, that is, he was more domineering. Therefore, on the one hand, we grasp power relatively tightly, on the other hand, we do not have a correct understanding of the double-edged sword of power, and we feel that we have the right to be willful, or even bold, act recklessly, do not follow the rules, have no bottom-line thinking, have no sense of rules, and even lack reverence for party discipline and state law, so when making decisions and deciding on some things, we have not done things well in accordance with regulations, rules, and procedures, especially in some oily and water project management, bidding and bidding. Holding on tightly to your own hands and helping out for your so-called "friends" is actually more convenient for you to take bribes for yourself.
Subsequently, Xu Qing confessed with tears: "Power in my hands has become a tool for seizing power and accumulating wealth." When you are an official, you should not love money, and if you love money, you should not be an official, and when you become an official, you must really and sincerely serve the people, so that you can live up to the expectations of the organization and avoid making mistakes. If you don't even have this bottom line, you will definitely make a mistake. ”
Xu Qing confessed: "I really regret it, especially after I was dismissed from office, I should have taken her (mother) and lived with us, now there is no such opportunity, when I go out, I don't know what year it is, I regret it very much, the old mother is more than eighty years old, and I have not been able to give her filial piety every day." ”
Upstream journalist Jia Chen