Beijing Plenum Expels 33 Senior Officials

Thirty-three senior party members were formally expelled from China’s ruling Communist Party during its fifth plenum, which concluded on Thursday.

The meeting, which began on Monday, marked the most critical political gathering of the year for the nation’s leadership.

Attendance figures revealed the scale of the turnover. Only 279 of the 376 full and alternate central committee members named in 2022 were present.

That absence of nearly one in four members suggests many are currently under investigation as the anti-corruption campaign widens.

Among the expelled officials was Zhang Youxia, formerly the most senior military general in the country.

Liu Jianchao, a senior diplomat previously tipped as a candidate for the next foreign minister, was also removed from the committee.

Neil Thomas, a senior fellow on Chinese politics at the Asia Society Policy Institute, noted that the military leadership ranks have been almost completely purged in the last three or four years.

General Zhang Shengmin emerged as a notable exception to the removals.

A key player in the anti-corruption drive, Zhang was promoted to the Politburo, the group of more than 20 top party officials.

Thomas said the promotion reinforces the priority placed on disciplinary work within the military.

Joseph Torigian, a professor of Chinese studies at American University in Washington D.C., described the meeting as a preparation for the next party congress.

He stated that Xi Jinping is ensuring his base is aligned before seeking a fourth term in office next year. "This is Xi Jinping setting up for the next party congress next year by ensuring that everybody is on the same page as him," Torigian said. Torigian added that the churn in the committee raises questions about who Xi will rely on to fill the ranks during the upcoming succession process. The plenum emphasized strengthening party governance and instilling discipline across generations. Torigian said Xi aims to keep the party at the center of members' lives to prevent the degradation seen in other communist regimes. Zhang Fuhai, Deputy Secretary of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, provided specific figures on the campaign's reach on Friday. He reported that 7.9 million individuals have been punished since the campaign began in late 2012. That total includes more than 960 senior officials. "The fight against corruption remains serious, complicated, and eradicating the breeding ground for corruption remains a formidable task," Zhang told reporters. The party also targeted excessive formalities and bureaucracy, a move Torigian described as an effort to stop officials from going through the motions without achieving results. More regular reporting from discipline inspectors to central authorities will add scrutiny on local officials. Thomas warned that local leaders might play it safe to avoid the discipline system, potentially leading to more inertia and less experimentation. Analysts do not expect the plenum to reveal a clear successor for Xi Jinping. Full decisions and deliverables from the meeting are expected to be published in the coming days.