Key facts
- Bai's letter alleged meeting corrective requirements meant paying 150,000 yuan for a commissioned project and 50,000 yuan for publishing.
- Teachers told Caixin that using personal funds for commissioned research targets is common at local public universities.
- Wang Zhi of a Shandong university said annual targets were about 100,000 yuan per teacher, often met by self-funded transfers with reimbursement.
- A 2026 survey found nearly 90% of 117 teachers perceived gray-area practices, with 17.95% having participated.
- Legal expert Bai Changqian said such arrangements do not constitute criminal embezzlement but violate research rules.
Shaanxi education authorities are investigating the death of Bai Baoguo, a 54-year-old associate professor at Yan'an University's Lu Xun School of Arts, who died in October after the university threatened to downgrade or reassign him for failing evaluations over two appointment periods. The education department confirmed his death on November 4 and formed a joint investigation team. The allegations remain unverified.
Bai left a letter alleging that research targets forced teachers to pay out of pocket to meet quotas and publish papers. Meeting corrective requirements would have meant paying 150,000 yuan for a commissioned project and 50,000 yuan for publishing, which he called "academic and research fraud." He alleged that most teachers met funding requirements by routing their own money through cooperating companies into university accounts and recovering it via financial procedures, involving inaccurate accounting.
Several teachers told Caixin that using personal funds for commissioned research targets is common, particularly at local public universities where arts disciplines have few corporate opportunities. Wang Zhi of a Shandong university said annual targets were about 100,000 yuan per teacher, often met by self-funded transfers with reimbursement. Management fees of 5% to 10% were often deducted. Li Mu in Shanxi said "paying to work" is a common predicament.
Yan'an University's 2026 standards convert commissioned projects into points: Category A starts at 80,000 yuan (state bidding) or 50,000 yuan (other), earning 15 and 12 points per 10,000 yuan; Category B earns 12 and 10 points and no performance incentives. Rules revised in 2025 impose a 4% management fee on funds up to 1 million yuan, split between university and school, prohibiting false contracts or invoices.
A 2026 survey found nearly 90% of 117 teachers perceived gray-area practices, with 17.95% having participated, and intermediaries arranging fictitious projects. Legal expert Bai Changqian said such arrangements do not constitute criminal embezzlement because funds came from teachers, but they violate research rules.
The Shaanxi education department ordered provincial universities to review commissioned project management; one institution's notice required reviewing all projects since 2023. A provincial party inspection team is stationed at Yan'an University for 50 days. The university did not respond to Caixin, and students were told not to talk to media.