China to expel record 30 Central Committee members at October plenum, Hong Kong paper says

The Chinese Communist Party's Central Committee plenum scheduled for October is expected to expel a record approximately 30 members, as the gathering formally processes personnel actions against senior officials who have already fallen from power, Hong Kong's Ming Pao reported Monday.

The CCP will hold the fifth plenary session of the 20th Central Committee — known as the 20th Central Committee's Fifth Plenum — in October. The Central Committee, the party's supreme governing body referred to as "Zhongyang," comprises 205 full members, including President Xi Jinping.

The full committee convenes once or twice a year for members serving five-year terms, setting major policy directions across political, economic and social affairs and deciding on senior appointments within the party, government and military. When a senior official holding a Central Committee seat falls from power over corruption or other serious offenses, the committee also formally ratifies the disciplinary action against that person.

According to Ming Pao, 19 Central Committee members have been officially removed from their posts over the past year.

Those placed under investigation or stripped of their seats in the National People's Congress — China's national legislature — have seen their political careers effectively ended, yet they technically retain their Central Committee membership. Personnel decisions involving Central Committee members can only be made when the committee convenes.

The military accounts for 11 of those on the list — the largest share — reflecting the central focus of Xi's anti-corruption campaign. Zhang Lin, former head of the Central Military Commission's Joint Logistic Support Department, lost his NPC seat in September last year. In December, Wang Feng, former head of the CMC's Training and Administration Department; Wang Renhua, secretary of the CMC's Political and Legal Affairs Commission; and Zhang Hongbing, political commissar of the People's Armed Police Force, also lost their NPC seats.

In January this year, Zhang Youxia, the CMC's vice chairman and widely regarded as the military's second-in-command, and Liu Zhenli, chief of the Joint Staff Department, fell from power simultaneously. In February, Li Wei, former political commissar of the Information Support Force, and Li Chaoming, former army commander, were removed. In June, Xu Xuecang, former head of the CMC's Equipment Development Department; Li Fengbiao, former political commissar of the Western Theater Command; and Guo Fuxiao, former political commissar of the Air Force lost their NPC seats.

Ming Pao noted that China formally announced the expulsion of former CMC Vice Chairman He Weidong and former Political Work Department Director Miao Hua just before the Fourth Plenum last year, and predicted that formal disciplinary action against Zhang Youxia and Liu Zhenli would similarly be announced before the Fifth Plenum opens.

Beyond the military, a significant number of party and government officials already on the "officially fallen" list also face imminent removal from the Central Committee. They include Sun Shaocheng, former party secretary of Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region; Yi Lianhong, former party secretary of Zhejiang Province; Wang Xiangxi, former minister of emergency management; Hu Henghua, former mayor of Chongqing; and Ma Xingrui, former member of the Politburo.

Some Central Committee members have also been dismissed or have disappeared from public view without any formal announcement of an investigation or disciplinary action. Liu Jianchao, former head of the CCP's International Department who had been mentioned as a candidate for China's next foreign minister; Jin Zhuangrong, former minister of industry and information technology; and Lei Fanpei, former executive deputy director of the Central Commission for Integrated Military and Civilian Development, were all removed from their posts last year.

Several other military members of the Central Committee have also not appeared at any official functions for an extended period, raising speculation that they too may have fallen from power. They include Liu Qingsong, former political commissar of the Eastern Theater Command; Wu Yanan, former commander of the Southern Theater Command; Wang Wenquan, former political commissar of the Southern Theater Command; Wang Haijiang, former commander of the Western Theater Command; Huang Ming, former commander of the Northern Theater Command; Xu Deqing, former political commissar of the Central Theater Command; and Zhong Shaojun, former political commissar of the National Defense University.

Since the 20th Central Committee was inaugurated in 2022 at the start of Xi's third term, 14 members have been expelled so far, including former Foreign Minister Qin Gang and former Defense Minister Li Shangfu.

"If another 30 Central Committee members are processed this time, roughly 20 percent of the full membership will have faced disciplinary action," Ming Pao said.

The paper added that with the CCP entering a new political cycle ahead of the 21st Party Congress next year, "cases involving senior generals and ministerial-level officials in the party and government who have fallen on corruption charges are piling up like a mountain — resolving these 'political burdens' in a timely manner and closing out the cases would allow a new chapter to begin."

The paper also cited a Chinese-language political affairs social media account as noting that the Fifth Plenum's agenda includes a study of "several major issues for persistently advancing full and strict party governance" — a focus that, it suggested, may also be connected to the prospect of large-scale Central Committee expulsions.