Jin Zhuanglong (Jin Zhuanglong)

Jin Zhuanglong (Jin Zhuanglong)

Biography

2025: Disappearance

At the end of February 2025, it became known that the Minister of Industry and Information Technology Jin Zhuanglong disappeared in China. Among other things, he oversaw the development of artificial intelligence and the production of semiconductor products, and also played a key role in the country's transformation into a technological superpower.

According to the Financial Times, Zhuanglong did not appear in public for two months. In particular, since the end of December 2024, he has been absent from important government meetings. In this regard, Zhuanglong is removed from office, and his duties are performed by Li Lecheng, the former governor of Liaoning Province.

Zhuanglong was always in sight until his disappearance. Almost a day later, he held meetings, spoke at conferences or traveled with Chinese Prime Minister Li Qiang. For example, in 2024, they visited the country's leading semiconductor enterprises, such as Naura and YMTC, and also visited a quantum computing research center. In November 2024, Zhuanglong met with Apple CEO Tim Cook in Beijing, urging the company to increase investment in innovative projects in China.

Zhuanglong was last seen in public on December 27, 2024. In early January, he missed a meeting of senior officials, at which the Secretary General of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party and Chinese President Xi Jinping stressed that corruption is the "biggest threat" to the party.

Financial Times sources claim that Zhuanglong's disappearance is due to the fact that he became a defendant in a bribery case. In China, a large-scale program is being implemented to combat crimes in government structures. In 2024, China's anti-corruption bodies subjected 889 thousand officials to various punishments, which is 46% more than a year earlier.^[1]

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