Former State Grid Chairman Under Anti-Graft Investigation

China’s top anti-corruption authorities have placed Xin Baoan, former chairman and Communist Party chief of State Grid Corp. of China, under investigation for suspected serious disciplinary and legal violations, more than two years after he stepped down from the world’s largest utility company. The Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) and the National Supervisory Commission announced the probe on the evening of July 31, according to Caixin Global.

A Career Spanning Four Decades

The 66-year-old Xin led State Grid from January 2021 to March 2024, overseeing the company during a period of dramatic expansion in China’s renewable energy capacity. During his tenure, the combined installed wind and solar capacity grew from 530 million kilowatts in 2020 to 1.8 billion kilowatts by the end of 2025, surpassing coal-fired power capacity for the first time.

Xin’s career in the power sector spanned more than four decades. He graduated from Xi’an Jiaotong University’s electrical engineering department in 1982 and later earned a master’s degree from North China Electric Power University. He spent 14 years at China Huadian Corp., one of the country’s major power generation companies, before being transferred to State Grid in 2016 as deputy party secretary and deputy general manager. He was the first chairman in State Grid’s history to come from an external power generation enterprise, according to China Daily.

Last Public Appearances and the Science Award

The investigation came just weeks after Xin received a prestigious national honor. On July 8, he was listed as the second of 15 principal contributors to a project on flexible DC grid connection technology that won the 2025 National Science and Technology Progress Award (First Class), as reported by NetEase. The award ceremony was held in Beijing, and the project was led by State Grid Corporation.

Xin’s last public appearance was on July 26 at the China Electricity Council’s “7·26 Power Theme Day” event in Hangzhou, where he delivered a keynote report on AI and energy integration. According to The Paper, Xin was reportedly taken away by authorities that same night, just days after his final public engagement.

Just weeks before his detention, Xin had traveled to New York from July 9-11 to attend the UN High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development. He participated in the “Accelerating Energy Innovation and Transition Global Cooperation” meeting at UN Headquarters on July 10, meeting with UN Under-Secretary-General Li Junhua and China’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Fu Cong.

Predecessor’s Fate Looms Large

The investigation of Xin follows the dramatic downfall of his predecessor, Kou Wei, who led State Grid from December 2018 to January 2020. On April 1, 2026, Kou was sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve by the Hinggan League Intermediate People’s Court in Inner Mongolia for bribery, embezzlement, and abuse of power, according to Caixin Global. The court found that Kou accepted more than 154 million yuan ($22.4 million) in bribes between 1996 and 2024, plus an additional 9 million yuan after his retirement.

Kou’s case, which was investigated in December 2024 after he had already retired, established a pattern that now extends to Xin: the principle that retirement offers no protection from anti-corruption scrutiny.

”No Retirement Safe Box”

The official announcement from the CCDI came late in the evening on July 31, in what Chinese media described as a “midnight tiger hunt.” The China News Service reported the announcement as a brief statement from the CCDI website, confirming that Xin is suspected of serious disciplinary and legal violations.

Analysis from Sohu noted that Xin is the sixth chairman since State Grid’s establishment and that his investigation after leaving office “fully confirms that anti-corruption has no ‘retirement safe box’ and continues to send a strong signal that anti-corruption in the power SOE sector will be pursued to the end.”

Broader Crackdown on Power Sector

Xin’s investigation is part of a wider anti-corruption campaign targeting China’s state-owned enterprises, particularly in the energy sector. Several other State Grid executives have been investigated in 2026, including Lu Haiwei, former Party Secretary and Chairman of State Grid Heilongjiang Electric Power, and Liang Jian, former Party Committee member of State Grid Jiangxi Electric Power, both investigated in June. Earlier in the year, Lai Zhengtian, former Deputy General Manager of State Grid Information & Communication, was investigated in March, as reported by China.com.cn.

State Grid is the world’s largest utility, serving over 1.1 billion people across 26 provinces covering 88% of China’s territory. It ranked third in the 2026 Fortune Global 500 with revenues exceeding $555.3 billion and reported total assets of 6.2 trillion yuan ($916 billion) as of the end of 2025.

Significance and What to Watch

Xin is the highest-ranking State Grid official to be investigated since Kou Wei, and the probe represents a landmark moment in the anti-corruption campaign reaching the top management of China’s power sector. The timing is notable: the investigation came just 23 days after Xin received a National Science and Technology Progress Award, underscoring the campaign’s independence from professional recognition or past achievements.

According to Upstream News, the investigation reflects the deepening scrutiny of the power sector, where large-scale infrastructure investment, construction, and procurement create significant corruption risks. The energy sector has been a particular focus of Beijing’s anti-corruption efforts due to the scale of state investment involved.

As the investigation progresses, observers will be watching for the specific allegations against Xin, the extent of any financial improprieties, and whether further senior figures in the power sector will be implicated. The case also raises questions about governance and oversight in China’s vast state-owned enterprise sector, particularly in industries critical to national energy security.

For now, the investigation of Xin Baoan serves as a powerful reminder that in China’s ongoing anti-corruption campaign, no position—however senior, however recently honored—offers immunity from scrutiny. The “no retirement safe box” principle has now been demonstrated at the very top of the world’s largest utility company.