Zhang Youxia, Xi Jinping’s former second-in-command in China’s military hierarchy, was expelled from the Chinese Communist Party after a months-long corruption investigation. His removal leaves the Central Military Commission with two members, Xi as chairman and Zhang Shengmin as vice-chairman.
China confirmed the expulsion of a record 33 officials at the Communist Party’s fifth plenum, including 16 from the military. The meeting, held roughly once a year for senior party officials, focused on party governance.
The four-day closed-door gathering was held at a hotel in Beijing. Only 279 full and alternate members of the party’s Central Committee attended, against the 376 originally named in 2022. It was the first time in Xi’s 14 years as leader that attendance at a plenum had fallen below 300.
The turnout produced the highest number of empty chairs at a plenum in modern Chinese history. More than 25 percent of the original cohort were absent, many because of purges, when members took their seats at the Great Hall of the People.
The purge reached into both the military and the party’s senior political ranks. Ma Xingrui, the former party secretary for Xinjiang and a former Politburo member, was removed from all posts amid allegations including nepotism, bribery and paying for sex. Liu Zhenli, the former chief of staff of the Central Military Commission’s joint staff department, was also among those expelled.
Zhang Shengmin, the military’s lead anti-corruption official, was promoted to the Politburo at the plenum. He became its only military member and the only remaining Central Military Commission member besides Xi.
Zhang Fuhai, deputy secretary of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, announced the purge. At a press briefing on Friday, he said the party would step up efforts to ensure officials “dare not, cannot, and do not want to be corrupt”. He said the central committee “with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core” had “eliminated serious hidden dangers within the party, the state and the military”, adding: “we would rather offend thousands than let down 1.4 billion people”.
Xi has made anti-corruption work and loyalty enforcement central to his rule since coming to power in 2012. He has said the party must uproot sick trees and called the fight against corruption “a never-ending journey”. In January, he warned against ‘two-faced cadres’ who profess political loyalty while defying orders and acting in their self-interest.
The disciplinary campaign has reached deep into the party apparatus. Some 680,000 people were disciplined in the first nine months of this year. More than two million individuals have been disciplined since 2012 in cases related to ‘pointless formalities, bureaucratism, hedonism and extravagance’. The Central Commission for Discipline Inspection has penalised 7.9 million people since 2012.
The latest expulsions bring the number of members removed during Xi’s third term to a record 51, compared with 35 in his second term and 5 in his first. His third term began in March 2023.
The plenum also laid the groundwork for the 21st Party Congress, expected in the second half of 2027. Xi is expected to secure a fourth term as party leader at that congress.
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