Xi’s Purge Hollows Out the Party: Record Expulsions and Empty Seats at China’s Top Conclave

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A Party Meeting With Empty Chairs

The plenum is a closed-door meeting of the Central Committee, one of the party's main decision-making bodies. State news agency Xinhua reported that only 279 full and alternate members attended. When the committee was named in 2022, it had 376 members.

That means roughly 25.8 percent of the original group was missing, the highest share in the party's modern history. Many of the absent members have been removed in Xi Jinping's anti-corruption drive.

Even so, the party's official message was triumphant. The communiqué praised its own achievements as historic, although the room was visibly thinner than before.

Who Was Expelled

The plenum formally approved the expulsion of 33 officials. Among them were two former Politburo members, Ma Xingrui and Zhang Youxia. Former diplomat Liu Jianchao and former industry minister Jin Zhuanglong were also removed.

Three sitting Politburo members have now been ousted during the current term, the most since 1980. Ma, a former rocket-industry executive and Xinjiang party chief, was accused by Xinhua of large-scale "family corruption." The party gave no figures for the alleged sums. Zhang Youxia, once China's top-ranking general, was expelled in September for what the party called disloyalty and factionalism, according to the Jamestown Foundation's China Brief.

None of these accusations can be independently checked. China has no independent courts or free press, and the party investigates and judges its own members.

The Military Takes the Hardest Hit

The damage is most visible in the armed forces. Five of the seven members of the Central Military Commission (CMC), the military's supreme command, who were appointed in 2022 have been purged. Only Xi and Vice Chairman Zhang Shengmin remain.

Zhang Shengmin is known as a discipline enforcer, not an operational commander. This week he was promoted to the Politburo. The party has not added a member to that body at a midterm plenum since 1994.

AFP reported before the meeting that of 44 military members named to the Central Committee in 2022, only two had not been purged or disappeared, citing the Asia Society Policy Institute.

Why Xi Keeps Purging

Shortly after taking power in 2012, Xi warned that unchecked corruption could bring down the party and the state. Since then, his campaign has hit millions of officials and hundreds of senior figures, including former allies.

Analysts offer different explanations. Ruby Osman of the Tony Blair Institute argues that Xi accepts short-term turmoil to build a lasting, disciplined system that outlives him. Joseph Torigian of American University points out that the party has few outside checks, so it relies on repeated internal campaigns to control its own officials.

Critics add that a system without independent oversight makes it hard to tell real anti-corruption work from political score-settling. Beijing denies the latter.

Looking Ahead to 2027

The party set the 21st Party Congress for the second half of 2027. There, Xi is widely expected to win a fourth five-year term as party leader.

State media have called on the country to unite "even tighter" around Xi. The communiqué also urged better selection and training of young cadres (party officials). Kerry Brown of King's College London sees a generational overhaul under way. The open question, he says, is whether Xi's older allies will let younger leaders gain real power.

Another message was aimed abroad. Brown says Beijing wants to show it is united and disciplined, in contrast to political division in the West. Yet the purges and the empty seats suggest a leadership under strain.

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Sources

1. Reuters, "China's Communist Party conclave sees record low attendance, surprise Politburo promotion" (Oct 29, 2026): https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/chinas-communist-party-conclave-sees-record-low-attendance-surprise-politburo-2026-10-29/
2. South China Morning Post, "What will China's fifth plenum mean for the root-and-branch corruption drive?": https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3371932/what-will-chinas-fifth-plenum-mean-root-and-branch-corruption-drive
3. The Jamestown Foundation, China Brief, "Party Blames Zhang Youxia's Fall on Disloyalty, Factionalism": https://jamestown.org/party-blames-zhang-youxias-fall-on-disloyalty-factionalism/
4. AFP, "What to know about the Chinese Communist Party's Fifth Plenum": https://english.ahram.org.eg/News/580738.aspx
5. Reuters, "China purges third Politburo member in deepening anti-graft drive" (July 2026): https://tribune.com.pk/story/2618209/china-purges-third-politburo-member-in-deepening-anti-graft-drive

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