The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) announced an extensive list of top officials being purged as the Fifth Plenum, the Party’s top political meeting, concluded.
Analysts noted that the top key command organs remain incomplete and that CCP leader Xi Jinping’s purge of “disloyal officials” will continue, which they said could lead to the sudden collapse of the communist regime.
The Fifth Plenum addressed the disciplinary cases of 34 members of the CCP’s Central Committee, confirming that 33 of them had been expelled. Among them are several high-ranking officials from the military-industrial sector who had been missing from public view for some time.
Those expelled include Yuan Jie, former chairman of the China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation, and Wen Gang, former chairman of the China State Shipbuilding Corporation. Both were alternate members of the Central Committee and were removed from their posts in 2023 and 2024, respectively. They disappeared from public view, and the disciplinary action taken against them during this Fifth Plenary Session has confirmed their downfall.
Also purged was Yu Jianfeng, former chairman of the China National Nuclear Corporation and an alternate member of the Central Committee, who has been absent from public view since the official activities during the 2025 Chinese New Year.
Lei Fanpei, ministerial-rank executive deputy director of the Office of the Central Commission for Integrated Military and Civilian Development and a member of the 20th Central Committee, disappeared from public view after a significant meeting in October 2024 and was expelled as well.
The purge list also includes Jin Zhuanglong, former Party Secretary of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT). His last public appearance was at an MIIT work conference held in Beijing on Dec. 26 and 27 last year.
Zhang Zhongyang, an alternate member of the Central Committee, was also on the list. He previously served as general manager of the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation and, in January 2024, took on the additional role of president of the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology.
The communiqué of the Fifth Plenum stated that the session deliberated and adopted the “Decision of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on Several Major Issues Concerning the Sustained Promotion of Comprehensive and Rigorous Party Governance.”
All these indicate that the CCP’s purge will continue, Su Tzu-yun, researcher and director of Division of Defense Strategy and Resources at Taiwan’s Institute for National Defense and Security Research, told The Epoch Times.
“These high-rank officials all have cliques behind them, so the purge will not stop until these connections are completely eliminated,” he said.
The communiqué also announced the elevation of 10 officials to the position of full members of the CCP’s Central Committee, but five other officials—Fu Wenhua, Cong Liang, Ji Lin, Zhu Wenxiang, and Zhu Hexin—were bypassed for promotion.
Notably, Fu Wenhua, the former commander of the Beijing Garrison, is a former subordinate of Zhang Youxia, former vice chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC), whom Xi purged earlier this year.
Delegates listen during a speech at the second plenary session of the National People’s Congress at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on March 9, 2026. Kevin Frayer/Getty Images
Top Command Organs Remain Incomplete
The CMC—the top military command organ—did not add any new members to replace the ones Xi removed. The seven-member commission currently has only two active members: Xi and Zhang Shengmin.
Judging by this Fifth Plenum, the CMC may remain unfilled until the 21st National Congress next year—a move intended to ensure that Xi is the sole person who retains absolute control over the military, Su said.
“In effect, this sidelines the CMC, rendering it functionally hollow,” he said. “By allowing these positions to remain vacant for a time, Xi ensures that the top brass of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) fully relinquish their independent military authority, leaving them in a position where they can only follow orders at the operational level.”
The CCP’s Politburo, the top decision-making body of the party and the state that usually has 25 members, also remains incomplete after the Fifth Plenum. After Zhang Shengmin, vice chairman of the CMC, was added, the Politburo has 22 members.
The persisting vacancies in top organs reflect Xi’s reluctance to make personnel changes and stem from his lack of a sense of security, Chen Pokong, a U.S.-based senior China analyst and current affairs commentator, told The Epoch Times.
“It also points to significant infighting within the party’s upper echelons—conflicts Xi has been unable to resolve.”
The personnel arrangements Xi has made at the Fifth Plenum reveal that he does not trust anyone, Chen said.
“He still feels insecure about his own power,” he said.
The purged high-ranking officials announced after the Fifth Plenum include those who were close associates of Xi’s own inner circle, Chen noted, such as Zhong Shaojun, his top military aide and a key figure within the Central Military Commission, as well as Fang Yongxiang, another of his primary military aides.
“This demonstrates that Xi Jinping’s control over the military is near zero, as even his own trusted confidants have turned against him,” he said.
Xi uses anti-corruption as a pretext, Chen said, not only to mask the CCP’s power struggles but also to conceal his own incompetence in governance, his poor judgment in personnel appointments, and his inability to discern the true character of the people he selects.
“Under someone like Xi Jinping, the CCP has been plunged into turmoil, becoming even more unstable,” he said. “The sheer number of high-ranking officials falling from power each year is enough to show just how precarious the CCP’s political situation has become. The Chinese communist regime could collapse at any minute.”
Luo Ya contributed to this report.
