On September 24, 2006, the CCP Central Committee decided to remove Chen Liangyu from his posts as Secretary of the CCP Shanghai Municipal Committee and others, and to place him under investigation, on suspicion of misappropriating Shanghai social security fund investments.
The CCP Central Commission for Discipline Inspection began a thorough investigation into Shanghai's social security system, paving the way for a subsequent investigation into Chen Liangyu.
According to Lang Xianping's own account in October 2006, while hosting a television program at the end of 2005 he received an anonymous email reporting the misappropriation of Shanghai's social security fund and drawing attention to businessman Zhang Rongkun; the central authorities began investigating the case in early 2006.
Shanghai Party Secretary Chen Liangyu criticized central policies at a Politburo meeting for harming the interests of the Yangtze River Delta, and relations with the Hu-Wen faction began to grow tense.