[4][5] Upon Jiang's retirement in 2004, it was widely believed that he stuffed the Politburo Standing Committee with his 'own men', and was making it difficult for Hu Jintao and Wen Jiabao to carry out their own policies.
Evidence for this theory included the 5th Plenary Meeting of 16th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party, when Hu's efforts to reshuffle the Politburo was blocked by members of the Shanghai Clique.
Wen's macro-economic measures aimed at slowing down infrastructure growth and nationwide overheating in the property sector received great resistance from alleged members of this clique until the fall of Chen Liangyu in September 2006.
[6] Following Chen Liangyu's downfall, Hu Jintao also removed some other officials appointed during Jiang Zemin's time in office.
Zhang Dingfa, then commander of PLA navy who was named by Jiang Zemin in 2003, was removed from office in August 2006 and replaced by Wu Shengli.
Zhou Yongkang, who has been seen as a member of the Shanghai clique and close associate with Jiang Zemin, entered the Politburo Standing Committee in 2007 and became secretary of Central Political and Legal Affairs Commission, giving him the authority to command China's courts, law enforcement, prosecution agencies, paramilitary forces, and domestic intelligence agencies.
After July 2009 Ürümqi riots, Hu Jintao successfully removed Wang Lequan from the position of Party secretary of Xinjiang, where he served since 1994 and was appointed Jiang Zemin.
Some of the inner members of Shanghai clique including Zhou Yongkang and Guo Boxiong were being prosecuted under the anti-corruption started after the 18th Party Congress leading by Xi Jinping and Wang Qishan.
China Leadership Monitor, which calls the group the "Shanghai Gang", has identified Han Zheng and Wang Huning (who both joined the Politburo Standing Committee in 2017) as members.
In 2011, Commonwealth magazine stated that the power struggle between the central government of the Chinese Communist Party controlled by Hu Jintao and Wen Jiabao and the local forces in Shanghai led by Jiang Zemin had worsened because the Shanghai Gang advocated that economic development in coastal areas should not be affected by overemphasizing the development of rural areas.
The current general secretary Xi Jinping's anti-corruption campaign will turn to Jiang Zemin's stronghold, the Shanghai Gang.
[10] The inspection team of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection was stationed in Shanghai, and people with knowledge of the matter told the Financial Times that Jiang Zemin's influence in the party and the military had angered Xi, and the anti-corruption investigation had targeted many of Jiang Zemin's associates, including Xu Caihou, the former vice chairman of the Central Military Commission, who served as Wang Zongnan, chairman of Bright Food Group, was also investigated on suspicion of embezzling public funds and accepting bribes.
Fan Changlong, the vice chairman of the Central Military Commission, all retired after the 19th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party.
Li Qiang and Ying Yong, Xi Jinping's former ministries in Zhejiang, broke the convention that since 1991, all the mayors of Shanghai have been local officials.
[11] Important people who have been identified as belonging to the clique include incumbent standing members of the powerful Politburo of the CCP Central Committee.
Members of the Shanghai clique are marked by their tendency to represent urban business interests of the coastal regions, many of them princelings, the children of revolutionary veterans, and their expertise in commercial affairs.