On January 12th, Beijing time, the official website of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) announced that Sun Dong, then Vice Mayor and Executive Deputy Mayor of Xinxiang City, Henan Province, was taken away for investigation on suspicion of serious violations of discipline and law. However, this news instantly exploded in the Chinese table tennis world because during his tenure, Sun had an important resume: he personally promoted and hosted the 2023 Henan Xinxiang WTT Championship. At that time, as the vice mayor, Sun not only hosted the opening ceremony of the WTT Xinxiang Championship and attended the press conference, but also presented the men's singles runner-up award to Liang Jingkun on the night of the singles final. Sun was also the highest-ranking official to attend the event during the WTT Xinxiang Championship.
In addition, please continue to understand two other related messages. At that time, Wang Zhongqi, then Vice Chairman of the Henan Provincial Sports General Association and President of the Henan Provincial Table Tennis Association, and Chen Xiongwei, then Chairman of China Gold Group, attended the singles final night with Sun. Before the CCDI officially announced that Sun was under investigation for suspected serious violations of discipline and law, Wang had already been summoned and is currently being jointly investigated by two special task forces in Henan. Chen was taken away for investigation by the disciplinary department on December 25, 2024, on suspicion of serious violations of discipline and law. This is not a coincidence, but rather a main line of anti-corruption targeting the Chinese table tennis and WTT industry chain. Among them, well-known media personality He Xiaolong explicitly wrote on social media: Liu Guoliang will definitely be investigated, and it will be very thorough!
Since Fan Zhendong and Chen Meng officially announced their withdrawal from the world rankings and WTT events, the Chinese table tennis and WTT industry chain have also begun to attract public attention and questions. It is unknown that all this is also part of the anti-corruption work of the disciplinary department. The first person to be taken away for investigation was Wang Zhongqi, the 62-year-old former Vice Chairman of the Henan Provincial Sports General Association and President of the Henan Provincial Table Tennis Association. According to media personality Du Liyan, Wang was repeatedly summoned due to problems involving black and gambling in the past period. Since he has retired, Wang even went to the ICU rescue room due to multiple summonses. Henan has specially established two special task forces to investigate Wang, and Liu Guoliang, then President of the Chinese Table Tennis Association, was aware of this matter.
As for the relationship between Wang Zhongqi and Liu Guoliang, in addition to both coming from Henan, they successfully promoted the 2022 WTT World Cup Finals to land in Xinxiang City, Henan Province, and Liu Guoliang also personally presented the "WTT World Table Tennis Federation Outstanding Contribution Award" to Wang during the event.
Furthermore, let's talk about Sun Dong, who was taken away for investigation by the disciplinary department this time. The 2023 WTT Championship could land in Xinxiang City, Henan Province again, which was inseparable from the strong promotion of Sun Dong, then Member of the Standing Committee of the Xinxiang Municipal Party Committee of Henan Province and Executive Vice Mayor. Therefore, during the Xinxiang Station of the 2023 WTT Championship, Sun frequently appeared at the opening ceremony, press conference, and awarding ceremony on the night of the finals. At that time, he also presented the men's singles runner-up award to Liang Jingkun and took a photo with him on site.
At the same time, as the most important strategic partner in the Chinese region for the 2023 WTT Championship Xinxiang Station, the original chairman of China Gold Group, Chen Xiongwei, was also taken away for investigation by the disciplinary department half a month before Sun was investigated. Chen had already retired in June 2023. Therefore, the successive investigations of Wang Zhongqi, Chen Xiongwei, and Sun Dong show that the focus of anti-corruption in 2025 must include the field of Chinese table tennis and WTT.
Regarding this, well-known media personality He Xiaolong bluntly stated that in the future period, in addition to maintaining normal training, there are two main lines that must be key actions for Chinese table tennis. The first is the comprehensive investigation of the WTT industry chain by the disciplinary department, and the second is the extreme chaos in the fan circle that was proposed to be focused on last year. As for the investigations of Chen Xiongwei, the former chairman of China Gold Group, and Sun Dong, the vice mayor of Xinxiang City, Henan Province, everything is related to Chinese table tennis, and it is believed that there is no need to say more. Moreover, during the process of rectifying the extreme chaos in the fan circle, an important event occurred: Wang Chuqin cancelled his attention to hundreds of people on social media overnight, and among those he still followed, there were no female teammates left. This is the first step in rectifying the fan circle: to draw a clear boundary with "CP speculation".
Finally, as for whether this main line of anti-corruption will eventually reach Liu Guoliang, President of the Chinese Table Tennis Association, He Xiaolong frankly expressed that the negative public opinion of the Chinese Table Tennis Association is too great now, coupled with the fact that there are indeed many doubts about Liu Guoliang and the WTT industry chain, so he believes that Liu Guoliang will definitely be investigated later, and it will be very thorough!
