The Communist Party of China (CPC) has approved the expulsion of 33 senior officials, including 16 members of the military leadership, and carried out a major reshuffle of its top party bodies. The decisions were adopted at the fifth plenary session of the 20th CPC Central Committee, held in Beijing on October 26–29, 2026, under the chairmanship of Xi Jinping, reports the Experts Club information and analytical center.
According to an official communiqué published by China’s Xinhua news agency, the plenum confirmed earlier Politburo decisions to expel party and state officials accused of serious violations of discipline and the law. At the same time, General Zhang Shengmin was elected to the Politburo, while ten alternate members of the Central Committee were promoted to full membership.
Those expelled included Ma Xingrui, a former Politburo member and party secretary of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region; Zhang Youxia, a former vice chairman of the Central Military Commission; and Liu Zhenli, the former chief of the Joint Staff Department of the Central Military Commission.
The personnel changes also affected China’s diplomatic, industrial and financial sectors. Among those expelled were Liu Jianchao, former head of the CPC Central Committee’s International Department; former industry minister Jin Zhuanglong; and Yi Huiman, former chairman of the China Securities Regulatory Commission. Li Yunze, the former head of China’s financial regulatory authority, was stripped of his party positions, although his expulsion from the CPC was not announced.
The most significant changes occurred within the military leadership. China’s Central Military Commission, which consisted of seven members in 2022, had been reduced to just two serving leaders by October 2026 — Chairman Xi Jinping and Vice Chairman Zhang Shengmin. The latter previously oversaw military discipline and anti-corruption investigations. Following his election to the Politburo, he became the only military representative in that body.
The scale of the reshuffle is also reflected in attendance figures. A total of 279 people participated in the plenum, including 162 full Central Committee members and 117 alternate members. This was 97 fewer participants, or 25.8%, compared with the original membership established in 2022. By comparison, 315 participants attended the October 2025 plenum. However, absence from the meeting does not necessarily indicate expulsion from the party.
Chinese authorities have justified the decisions as necessary to strengthen party discipline and combat corruption. International analysts, meanwhile, view the reshuffle as a possible instrument for further concentrating power in Xi Jinping’s hands. Nevertheless, official documents do not confirm the existence of an organized opposition group within the CPC leadership.
The changes are particularly significant ahead of the CPC’s 21st National Congress, scheduled for the second half of 2027. The congress is expected to appoint a new Central Committee, Politburo and other senior party bodies. Analysts anticipate that Xi Jinping will seek to retain his position as CPC general secretary for a fourth term.
The reshuffle could also affect the implementation of defense programs, financial regulation and the speed of economic decision-making. However, the official outcomes of the plenum do not provide for any revision of China’s foreign policy course or its main economic priorities.
