According to a commentary published in the huaglad.com on February 25, 2018, Ding Xuexiang, Director of the CCP CC General Office and close aide to Xi Jinping, recently spoke at a meeting attended by departments under the Party Central Committee. Ding Xuexiang indicated that almost all the officials who were investigated after the 18th National Congress had “political issues.” Some of them even had the intention to, “Usurp the party and seize power.” The article stated that the comments Ding Xuexiang were a warning signal to the Jiang Zemin faction.

According to the statistics, over the past five years, over 440 provincial level officials were the subject of investigations, including six officials who had the highest rank: Bo Xilai, Sun Zhengcai, Zhou Yongkang, Ling Jihua, Xu Caihou, and Guo Boxiong. The media reported that Jiang Zemin's faction, which both Jiang Zemin and Zeng Qinghong backed, had planned to have Bo Xilai promoted to the Politburo Standing Committee and oust Xi Jinping from his post. After the fall of Bo Xilai and prior to the 19th National Congress, Sun Zhengcai, Bo Xilai’s successor from Chongqing was also taken down. The article reported that the “big tigers” that Xi Jinping took down during the anti-corruption effort were mostly members of Jiang Zemin's faction.

The article also pointed out that Xi’s anti-corruption effort has had little impact because China is under a one-party autocracy. China is ranked 77th out of 180 countries and regions according to the 2017 Clean Government index, while a survey conducted in China found that 73 percent of the people surveyed believe that, even though Xi Jinping has conducted the anti-corruption effort over the past few years, corruption has been getting worse in China. The article reported that corruption has penetrated all levels of the Party structure and has become part of the Party culture, which will eventually drag down economic growth. Xi Jinping is facing a tremendous challenge in dealing with his corrupt party and the problems can’t be fixed simply with an administrative order or an anti-corruption campaign.