In the 1990s, when Bo Xilai was mayor of Dalian, Xi Jinping made a special visit to learn about city management experience; Bo Xilai shared the trick of “speculative land buying” and predicted that the two would eventually become enemies.
Zhang Youxia and Liu Zhenli were officially announced to be investigated for “seriously trampling and undermining the Chairman’s responsibility system of the Central Military Commission”, indicating intense power struggles at the top.
In 2025, the military newspaper continuously published eight commentary articles, involving expressions such as "enfeoffing wives and promoting sons," "loyalty to an individual," and "running a family dynasty."
Bo Xilai's son Bo Guagua married the daughter of a hospital family from Yilan, Taiwan in 2024 and publicly pleaded for his parents.
Xi Jinping had his last face-to-face meeting with Bo Xilai in Qincheng Prison. The two discussed power struggles and women, with Bo Xilai lamenting his loss.
On March 15, 2012, Bo Xilai was dismissed from his post as secretary of the Chongqing Municipal Committee of the CCP, and three days later Ling Gu died in a car accident in Beijing. These two incidents became critical turning points in the restructuring of the top leadership power structure of the Chinese Communist Party on the eve of the 18th National Congress.
Wang Lijun, disguised, fled and broke into the US Consulate in Chengdu, marking the collapse of Bo Xilai's political empire.
US FBI official Sarah submitted an encrypted email to Xi Jinping detailing Wang Lijun's monitoring of calls between central leaders. Upon learning of this, Xi Jinping decided to handle the matter personally.
At the 17th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), Xi Jinping, with a narrow advantage, entered the Politburo Standing Committee along with Li Keqiang, becoming Hu Jintao's successor, while Bo Xilai only made it to the Politburo.
In the spring of 1979, Xi Jinping and Bo Xilai met by chance in Beijing's Yuanyuan Tan Park. The two recalled their respective difficult experiences, and Bo Xilai even took Xi Jinping to a gathering of princelings.