By Laurie Chen
BEIJING (Reuters) -The elite Central Committee of China’s ruling Communist Party will undergo the highest personnel turnover since 2017 during a key meeting this week, after eight members who were top generals were expelled from the party on graft charges on Friday.
The closed-door meeting, known as the Fourth Plenum, will discuss Beijing’s forthcoming five-year economic development plan, but will also confirm personnel decisions such as formally removing members already expelled from the party.
At least 11 full members of the Central Committee, out of 300-plus full and alternate members, are likely to be replaced by alternates, according to convention.
This could potentially be the highest turnover at a single meeting since 2017’s Seventh Plenum, when a record 11 members were expelled. Over the course of President Xi Jinping’s first term, a record 19 members were replaced in total as he launched a sweeping anti-corruption crackdown.
Here are some of the people who are likely to be replaced this week:
MILITARY RESHUFFLE
The eight People’s Liberation Army generals expelled last week include He Weidong, China’s number two general, marking China’s biggest military purge in decades.
An important question looming over the plenum is whether He’s role as second-ranked vice-chair of the Central Military Commission (CMC) will be filled in. The seven-person top military command body chaired by Xi has lost three members to anti-corruption probes since 2023.
“He can either elevate one of the other CMC members, Liu Zhenli or Zhang Shengmin, in accordance with Party tradition. Doing this would of course create another vacancy on the CMC that the plenum could fill, in all likelihood with a Theatre Command-grade level officer,” said Jon Czin, a PLA expert at the Brookings Institution.
“Alternatively, Xi can give a Theatre Command-grade level officer a ‘helicopter promotion’ to the CMC vice chairman position, which is exactly what Xi did for He, ironically.”
He Weidong was also part of the 24-member Politburo. If someone is promoted to his former CMC role, they could potentially also take his seat on the elite policymaking body.
Other than the 8 officers announced on Friday, another senior military official who could be expelled is Zhang Lin, head of the CMC’s logistics support unit, who was removed from the national legislature in September.
At least a dozen further PLA officials have been missing from public view for months, a sign they may be under investigation.
“I do believe these secondary purges and the results of their investigations can be announced at a later date since the most significant of these were made public last Friday,” said James Char, Assistant Professor with the China Programme at Nanyang Technological University.
“Announcing more of these amidst the Plenum will distract from the Plenum itself, and cause further damage to PLA morale.”
CERTAIN REPLACEMENTS
Three more senior politicians are certain to be replaced. These include the former head of China’s General Administration of Customs Yu Jianhua who died last December, former Shanxi provincial governor Jin Xiangjun, who was expelled from the party this month, and former agriculture minister Tang Renjian, expelled last November for graft.
OFFICIALS UNDER INVESTIGATION
Since April, four members including Jin have come under public investigation for suspected corruption. They are: Guangxi regional chairman Lan Tianli, Inner Mongolia regional chairwoman Wang Lixia and Yi Huiman, the former head of the China Securities Regulatory Commission.
If any of these investigations have concluded, the individual’s expulsion could be announced at the plenum. An internal party investigation typically takes around six months or longer.
UNCERTAIN FATE
Former industry minister Jin Zhuanglong, who has not been seen in public since last December, was dismissed from his role in February. An investigation has not been made public.
Senior diplomat Liu Jianchao was replaced by Liu Haixing as head of the Communist Party’s International Department last month. Liu was detained for questioning in early August, Reuters reported.
Investigations, reshuffles and retirements have caused at least 11 new provincial-level leaders – Party secretaries, governors or regional chairpersons – to be appointed this year so far.
The unusually high number of personnel appointments could be an attempt to prepare a new generation of potential leadership candidates who could enter the Central Committee or Politburo during or before the next major Communist Party leadership reshuffle in 2027.
Politburo member Ma Xingrui was removed from his post as Xinjiang Party Secretary in July “to be appointed to another position”, according to a Central Committee announcement.
It is not known whether he has been transferred to a new role but he has continued appearing in public, most recently at the Chinese leadership’s National Day reception in Beijing last month.
(Reporting by Laurie Chen, Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan)
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