Former Wuhan Mayor and Former Vice Chairman of Hubei Provincial Political Consultative Conference Zhou Xianwang Under Investigation; Drew Attention During COVID-19 Pandemic for Suspected “Luxury Watch”

China Morning Newspaper (Chief Reporter Dong Zhe) - On July 8, the website of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and the National Supervisory Commission announced that Zhou Xianwang, former Mayor of Wuhan and former member of the Party Leadership Group and Vice Chairman of the Hubei Provincial Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), is suspected of serious disciplinary violations and illegal acts. He is currently under disciplinary inspection and supervisory investigation by the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and the National Supervisory Commission.

China Morning Newspaper once reported on "Watch Brother" Zhou Xianwang in an article titled "Wuhan Mayor's Suspected 'Luxury Watch' and the Premier's Wrinkled Old Leather Belt" on February 2, 2020, during the pandemic. On the evening of January 31, 2020, at a press conference on the latest progress of the prevention and control of the novel coronavirus-infected pneumonia epidemic held in Hubei Province, attentive netizens noticed that a watch on the wrist of Zhou Xianwang, who was sitting in the middle of the press conference stage, looked dazzling when he raised his hand and moved his wrist. It was suspected to be a "Vacheron Constantin" luxury watch worth 165,000 yuan.

At that time, China Morning Newspaper - Lighthouse News made multiple attempts to contact the Wuhan Municipal People's Government and Zhou Xianwang himself to verify whether the online information was true. Unfortunately, as of the publication of the report, no relevant response was received from the Wuhan authorities or Zhou Xianwang himself.

Public information shows that Zhou Xianwang was born in November 1962 in Jianshi, Hubei Province. He has been working in Hubei, serving as Deputy County Magistrate of Jianshi County, County Magistrate of Xuan'en County, Deputy Prefect of Enshi Prefecture, etc. In 2003, he served as Prefect of Enshi Prefecture; in 2008, he served as Director and Party Secretary of the Hubei Provincial Department of Commerce; in 2012, he served as Secretary of the Huangshi Municipal Party Committee.

In 2017, Zhou Xianwang was promoted to Vice Governor and member of the Party Leadership Group of the Hubei Provincial Government. In 2018, he served as Deputy Secretary of the Wuhan Municipal Party Committee and Mayor of Wuhan. In January 2021, he was transferred to be a member of the Party Leadership Group and Vice Chairman of the Hubei Provincial CPPCC.

In January 2023, after the term change of the Hubei Provincial CPPCC, Zhou Xianwang no longer held the positions of member of the Party Leadership Group and Vice Chairman of the Provincial CPPCC until his investigation this time.