Tan Ruisong, ex-boss of Chinese aircraft giant AVIC, expelled from Communist Party

Former head of company behind China’s latest generation stealth fighter jet accused of taking ‘huge amount’ of bribes

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Tan Ruisong, the former leader of state-owned Aviation Industry Corporation of China, has been accused of “extensively abusing” his power. Photo: Weibo

Published: 5:18pm, 24 Feb 2025

The former chairman and Communist Party secretary of the state-owned defence conglomerate Aviation Industry Corp of China (AVIC) – China’s leading military aircraft maker – has been expelled from the party for allegedly taking a “huge amount” of bribes.

Tan Ruisong, 63, is accused of “extensively abusing” his power in the defence industry for personal gain, according to the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI), China’s top anti-graft agency.

Tan has been under investigation since August and his case will be handed over to prosecutors.

According to a CCDI statement on Monday, Tan accepted “a huge amount of bribes … and offered favours during the restructuring and mergers and acquisitions of enterprises, for contracting engineering projects, and in the recruitment of employees”.

He also “seriously violated the party’s political discipline” by engaging in “embezzlement of huge amounts of public properties” and “power-for-sex transactions”, the commission said.

The statement did not detail how much money was involved, saying only that Tan’s actions were “severe in nature and had a nefarious impact” and did “not stop even after the 18th party congress” in 2012, implying that his illegal activities had begun before 2012.