China's Communist Party expels record number of officials at plenum

The Chinese Communist Party (CCP), which holds absolute authority over the state in China, has expelled a record 33 members at its fifth plenum in Beijing this week. A plenum is a gathering of top officials held roughly once a year. This one had the most empty seats in modern Chinese history, which points to the scale of the purges under leader Xi Jinping.

Empty seats in the hall

Only 279 full and alternate members of the CCP Central Committee attended, while 376 were originally named as members in 2022. That means more than 25% of the original group were missing, many because of purges.

The confirmed expulsions include Zhang Youxia, formerly second-in-command to Xi in the military hierarchy, and Ma Xingrui, the former party secretary of Xinjiang. Other absences were not explained.

Neil Thomas, a senior fellow at the Asia Society thinktank, said in a post on X that the extra empty seats underline the plenum's focus on Xi's vision of strict internal discipline. The theme of the plenum was party governance.

Purges and military leadership

Xi has been in power since 2012 and has focused on stamping out party corruption. In recent years the campaign has intensified, reaching the highest ranks of the party and the military. This has raised questions over whether it is also a tool to remove political rivals or punish disloyalty. Earlier this year Xi said the party must uproot "sick trees" and that the anti-corruption fight was a "never-ending journey".

The purges have gutted the seven-man Central Military Commission, the ruling body of the People's Liberation Army. Only two members remain: Xi and the military's anti-graft tsar, Zhang Shengmin. Zhang was promoted to the politburo this week and is now the only military member of that top leadership body.

Looking to the party congress

The plenum also prepared the ground for the 21st Party congress, held every five years and expected in the second half of 2027. Xi is expected to secure a fourth term as party leader, which would make him the longest-serving ruler of Communist China since Mao Zedong.

The Central Committee and politburo will be refreshed at the congress, but many analysts believe the recent purges have been so wide-ranging that few suitable candidates remain for promotion.