"Tree Planting Mayor" Zhang Xinqi was arrested

Zhang Xinqi, once known as the "mayor of planting trees," has been approved for arrest.

On the afternoon of August 30, the Supreme People's Procuratorate reported that Zhang Xinqi, a former member of the party leading group and deputy director of the Standing Committee of the Shandong Provincial People's Congress, was suspected of accepting bribes, and the State Supervision Commission's investigation was concluded and transferred to the procuratorial organs for review and prosecution. A few days ago, the Supreme People's Procuratorate made a decision to arrest Zhang Xinqi on suspicion of accepting bribes in accordance with the law. The case is under further processing.

The Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and the State Supervision Commission pointed out earlier that Zhang Xinqi was bold and arrogant, had no bottom line of discipline and law, regarded public power as a tool for seeking private interests, engaged in power and money transactions on a large scale, and illegally accepted huge amounts of money.

Zhang Xinqi Infographic

According to public information, Zhang Xinqi was born in August 1956, Shandong Rong adult, worked in Yantai in his early years, served as the director of Yantai Municipal Planning Bureau, the mayor of Laizhou City, the standing committee of Yantai Municipal Party Committee, the secretary of Laizhou Municipal Party Committee, the deputy secretary of Weifang Municipal Party Committee, vice mayor, mayor, secretary of the Municipal Party Committee and other positions.

In December 2011, Zhang Xin became the deputy secretary of the Qingdao Municipal Party Committee and the secretary of the party group of the municipal government, and was elected mayor of Qingdao in March 2012.

In February 2012, the Qingdao Municipal Government issued the Notice on Carrying Out Tree Planting and Greening Campaigns in the City, requiring large-scale tree planting and greening activities in the city. However, many Qingdao citizens raised objections, believing that this move was suspected of being a government performance project and an image project, and that the implementation process was not scientific and reasonable enough, and there was a situation of "shoveling grass and planting trees", and called Zhang Xinqi "the mayor of planting trees".

In April of the same year, Qingdao leaders apologized for the lack of work in an online exchange with netizens and promised to adjust the existing problems.

On November 22, 2013, an explosion occurred in the crude oil spill of the Donghuang Oil Pipeline of the Pipeline Storage and Transportation Branch of Sinopec Co., Ltd. in Qingdao Economic and Technological Development Zone, killing 62 people, injuring 136 people, and direct economic losses of 750 million yuan. On January 10, 2014, the State Council approved the accident investigation and handling report and gave Zhang Xinqi an administrative warning.

In February 2017, Zhang Resigned as Mayor of Qingdao and became Vice Chairman of the Standing Committee of the Shandong Provincial People's Congress, a position he no longer held in January 2018.

In February 2021, the website of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and the State Supervision Commission announced that Zhang Xinqi was suspected of serious violations of discipline and law and was subject to disciplinary review and supervision and investigation. On August 17, the website of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and the State Supervision Commission announced that Zhang Xinqi had been expelled from the party.

After investigation, Zhang Xinqi lost his ideals and beliefs, betrayed his original mission, and resisted organizational review;

Violating the spirit of the eight provisions of the Central Committee and accepting gifts in violation of regulations;

Seeking benefits for others and accepting money in the selection and appointment of cadres;

Aggressive for-profit activities;

They act boldly, have no bottom line of discipline and law, regard public power as a tool for seeking private interests, engage in power and money transactions, seek benefits for others in enterprise operations, project contracting, and other aspects, and illegally accept huge amounts of money.