The Communist Party of China (CPC) expelled a record number of officials at this week's fifth plenum, where the expulsion of 33 members was confirmed — the highest number to date. The fifth plenum is a gathering of top officials held approximately once a year, and this year's meeting was dedicated to the theme of party governance.
Only 279 of the total full and alternate members of the CPC Central Committee attended this week's meeting, while 376 members were originally appointed in 2022. This means that more than 25 per cent of the original group was absent, many due to purges. This represents the largest number of "empty seats" at a plenum in modern Chinese history, with part of the absence left unexplained.
Among the confirmed expellees are Zhang Youxia, the former second-highest figure in the military hierarchy after the Chinese leader, and Ma Xingrui, the former party secretary for Xinjiang. A series of purges has further weakened the seven-member Central Military Commission, the governing body of the Chinese People's Liberation Army. Only two members remain in that body: Xi himself and military anti-corruption supervisor Zhang Shengmin.
Zhang Shengmin was promoted to the CPC Politburo this week, the party's highest governing body, making him the only military member of that top tier. Since coming to power in 2012, Xi has focused on rooting out corruption within the party, and the campaign has intensified in recent years, reaching officials at the highest levels of the party and the military. Xi has stated that the party must root out "sick trees" and that the fight against corruption is a "journey without end".
The plenum also laid the foundations for the 21st party congress, which is held every five years, with the next one 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 after Mao Zedong. The composition of the Central Committee and the Politburo will be renewed at next year's congress.
