CCP Expels Record 33 Members at Plenum as More Than 25% of 2022 Cohort Vanish
Updated
Updated · The Guardian · Oct 30
CCP Expels Record 33 Members at Plenum as More Than 25% of 2022 Cohort Vanish
3 articles · Updated · The Guardian · Oct 30
Summary
Thirty-three Central Committee members were expelled at the CCP’s fifth plenum, a record for the gathering and the clearest new sign of Xi Jinping’s widening purge campaign.
Only 279 full and alternate members attended, down from 376 named in 2022, leaving more than 25% of the original cohort absent and producing the most empty seats in modern plenum history.
The confirmed ousters included former top general Zhang Youxia and former Xinjiang party chief Ma Xingrui, while other absences were left unexplained under a plenum centered on party governance and discipline.
Xi’s anti-corruption drive has already hollowed out the seven-member Central Military Commission to just Xi and graft tsar Zhang Shengmin, who was elevated this week to the Politburo.
The purge wave also shapes succession planning before the 2027 party congress, where Xi is expected to secure a fourth term even as analysts say the talent pool for promotion has been badly depleted.