Fifty-four people were found responsible for a fatal high-speed train crash in July. They included Liu Zhijun, former Minister of Railways, and Zhang Shuguang, former Deputy Chief Engineer of the Ministry of Railways.

On July 23, a high-speed train rammed into a stalled train near Wenzhou in Zhejiang Province, leaving 40 people dead and 172 injured.

According to a final investigation report released on December 28, the train crash was caused by major design flaws in train operating equipment, loose safety controls and poor emergency response to equipment failure.

Liu, Zhang, and Ma Cheng, Board Chairman of China Railway Signal and Communication Corp. that produced the railway signaling system, were chiefly responsible for the crash, according to the State Council.

Liu and Zhang have been removed from office over an alleged "severe violation of discipline."