Five secretaries of the 'big Tiger'

The following five prominent officials have served consecutively as Zhou Yongkang's secretary, and most of them have been placed under investigation.

Li Hualin

, former deputy general manager of China National Petroleum Corporation, served as Zhou's secretary from 1988 to 1992. On Aug 27, the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission confirmed Li was being investigated over suspected "serious violations of discipline".

Shen Dingcheng

, former Party chief of CNPC International Limited, a subsidiary of CNPC, served as Zhou's secretary from 1992 to 1998. An unnamed source told Shanghai's Dongfang Daily in February that Shen had been "probed by the authorities" and had been "out of contact".