# China Confirms 33 Party Expulsions, Leaves Two on Military Commission

By Riza Dagoc

Canonical URL: https://www.tokenpost.com/news/regulation/45301
Published: 2026-10-31T02:36:53.000Z
Updated: 2026-10-31T02:36:53.000Z
Section: Regulation

> The four-day plenum elected Central Military Commission Vice Chairman Zhang Shengmin to the Politburo and set the next national congress for the second half of 2027.

At a Beijing meeting that closed Oct. 29, the Communist Party’s Central Committee formalized previously announced expulsions of 33 members, 16 of them military officials.

The fifth plenary session of the party’s 20th Central Committee met in Beijing from Oct. 26-29. It drew 162 full Central Committee members and 117 alternates. The commission leads China’s armed forces. The plenum also elected Vice Chairman Zhang Shengmin to the Politburo.

The Politburo had made the expulsion decisions before the meeting, and the plenum confirmed them. The 33 included 16 military officials and 17 others. The plenum separately confirmed Li Yunze’s removal from a party position; he was not included in the 33.

The commission’s original seven-member roster was set in 2022. It comprised Chairman Xi Jinping, Vice Chairmen Zhang Youxia and He Weidong, and members Li Shangfu, Liu Zhenli, Miao Hua and Zhang Shengmin.

Li Shangfu was removed from the commission in 2023. He Weidong and Miao Hua were expelled from the party in 2025, the year Zhang Shengmin became a vice chairman. The party announced its decision to expel Zhang Youxia and Liu Zhenli on Sept. 21; the plenum confirmed those decisions on Oct. 29. Xi and Zhang Shengmin are now the only two members remaining on the commission.

At a press conference in Beijing on Oct. 30, Zhang Fuhai, deputy secretary of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, said, “The anti-graft fight remains a grave and complex challenge, and much remains to be done to eliminate the conditions and fertile ground that give rise to corruption.”

The party’s 21st National Congress is scheduled for the second half of 2027.