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China strips Zhang Youxia and Liu Zhenli from the Central Military Commission

Beijing, ChinaPublished 1 Sep 2026

The Great Hall of the People in Beijing, where the NPC Standing Committee met on Friday.
The Great Hall of the People in Beijing, where the NPC Standing Committee met on Friday.

Windmemories / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source

The NPC Standing Committee removed the two generals from the state CMC on Friday, months after a January discipline probe. Coverage splits over whether that is routine anti-graft business or a purge that leaves Xi and a discipline chief as the only known members.

China’s NPC Standing Committee voted Friday to remove Zhang Youxia as vice chairman of the state Central Military Commission and Liu Zhenli as a commission member, Xinhua said. Both had been under investigation since January for suspected serious violations of discipline and law, a phrase several outlets call a corruption euphemism. The move leaves the formerly seven-member body with two known members, Xi Jinping and discipline chief Zhang Shengmin. Reuters-family copy notes they have not been publicly stripped of Communist Party CMC posts.

Shared facts

China’s defence ministry said in January that Zhang Youxia and Liu Zhenli were suspected of serious violations of discipline and law.

Outlets say Chinese authorities commonly use “serious violations of discipline and the law” as a euphemism for corruption.

The cases sit inside Xi Jinping’s anti-corruption campaign in the military.

Zhang Youxia had been vice chairman of the Central Military Commission and China’s highest-ranking uniformed officer.

Zhang Youxia was a member of the Communist Party Politburo.

Liu Zhenli was a CMC member and chief of staff of the Joint Staff Department.

The Joint Staff Department oversees combat planning and military operations.

The Central Military Commission is China’s top military decision-making body.

Xi Jinping chairs the Central Military Commission.

China maintains parallel Communist Party and state Central Military Commissions.

The party and state CMCs are treated in practice as one institution.

The Communist Party CMC is the body through which the party controls the PLA.

The CMC is supposed to have seven members.

The NPC Standing Committee took the personnel decision at its closing meeting in Beijing.

On Friday the NPC Standing Committee removed Zhang Youxia and Liu Zhenli from the state Central Military Commission.

Friday’s announcement concerns their posts on the state CMC, not the party CMC.

Zhang and Liu have not been formally or publicly stripped of Communist Party CMC posts.

Their removal leaves two known CMC members, including Xi Jinping.

The other known CMC member is Zhang Shengmin.

Zhang Shengmin oversees military discipline and anti-corruption work.

Authorities have not disclosed Zhang Youxia and Liu Zhenli’s whereabouts.

Authorities have not given details of the accusations against Zhang Youxia and Liu Zhenli.

The CPPCC stripped former Western Theatre commander Zhao Zongqi of his membership.

Hong Kong Free Press

China removes high-ranking officers from key military body

Agence France-Presse

Published 29 Aug 2026 accessed 1 Sep 2026

Facts

A PLA Daily editorial said Zhang and Liu had “seriously trampled on and undermined the system of ultimate responsibility resting with the CMC chairman,” meaning Xi.

Opinion

The anti-graft drive has defined Xi Jinping’s time in power.

Zhang Youxia’s fall from grace shocked observers given his seniority and the perception he was close to Xi.

The Straits Times

China removes two top generals from supreme military command body

Reuters

Published 28 Aug 2026 accessed 1 Sep 2026

Facts

The military has been one of the main targets of a corruption crackdown Xi ordered in 2012.

The years-long campaign has seen scores of senior officials and top generals investigated, removed, and purged.

In July, Xi urged senior Communist Party leaders to deepen the fight against military corruption.

Zhang and Liu’s names were removed from an updated NPC deputy list on Friday, indicating they lost their seats along with 10 other lawmakers.

The dropped deputies included Lt. Gen. Zhong Shaojun, former CMC General Office director, and Gen. Ju Qiansheng, a former Strategic Support Force commander.

The list also included former Nanchang mayor Gao Shiwen, who previously worked at China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation.

Opinion

No opinion marked.

WION

Xi consolidates power: China’s top military body left with just two after generals purged

Ajaypal Choudhary

Published 28 Aug 2026 accessed 1 Sep 2026

Facts

CNN, citing CSIS, said authorities have officially purged 36 generals and lieutenant generals since 2022.

Another 65 officers are listed as missing or potentially purged.

Opinion

WION casts the removals as a corruption purge.

WION calls this the latest corruption-related purge led by Xi Jinping.

WION says Liu Zhenli fell from power alongside Zhang Youxia.

The anti-graft campaign has defined Xi’s time in power.

Zhang Youxia’s removal carries added significance because of his seniority and perceived closeness to Xi.

The latest move is seen as part of Xi’s effort to clean up China’s military while tightening his grip on power and pushing military modernisation.

Xinhua

Roundup: China passes healthcare security law, appoints civil affairs minister, ratifies extradition treaty with Hungary

Xinhua

Published 28 Aug 2026 accessed 1 Sep 2026

Facts

Chinese lawmakers on Friday voted to adopt a healthcare security law, approve a new civil affairs minister, and ratify an extradition treaty with Hungary.

The votes were taken at the closing meeting of the 24th session of the 14th NPC Standing Committee in Beijing.

Lawmakers removed Lu Zhiyuan as civil affairs minister and appointed Li Changguan.

Lawmakers also adopted farmland-protection, agriculture, national-defense-mobilization, and lawyers legislation.

Zhao Leji presided over the NPC Standing Committee closing meeting at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Aug. 28, 2026.

Xi Jinping signed presidential orders to promulgate the laws and announce the personnel change.

In the meeting, lawmakers ratified an extradition treaty between China and Hungary.

Lawmakers also voted on several other personnel appointments, removals, and related bills.

Zhao Leji said legislative work should emphasize social fairness and justice, improve the socialist legal system, and guarantee Chinese modernization.

Lawmakers also passed a deputy qualification report.

Zhao Leji stressed stronger legislation in key, emerging, and foreign-related fields and called for higher legislative quality.

Zhao Leji also chaired a Council of Chairpersons meeting before the close and a lecture for lawmakers afterward.

Opinion

No opinion marked.

Moneycontrol

China removes Zhang Youxia, Liu Zhenli from state military commission after probe

Moneycontrol World Desk

Published 28 Aug 2026 accessed 1 Sep 2026

Facts

After Xi’s 2022 third term, Zhang Youxia was elevated to first vice chairman of the CMC, making him China’s highest-ranking military officer.

Zhang Youxia was appointed to the Central Military Commission in 2012.

Zhang Youxia entered the 24-member Politburo five years later.

Zhang Youxia became the CMC’s second-ranked vice chairman in 2017.

Zhang Youxia joined the Communist Party Central Committee in 2007.

Several senior military figures had already been removed in Xi’s anti-corruption campaign.

A number of senior commanders have faced investigations or removal during Xi’s tenure, with authorities citing corruption and disciplinary violations.

Opinion

Zhang Youxia was widely regarded as one of the most powerful figures in the PLA.

Zhang Youxia’s seniority and perceived closeness to Xi made the investigation particularly significant.

Zhang Youxia had appeared to avoid the purge despite sitting at the top of the military hierarchy.

Zhang Youxia’s investigation drew attention because of his seniority and perceived ties to Xi.

Liu Zhenli was an important figure in China’s military leadership.

Moneycontrol says Zhang Youxia’s removal is particularly notable for that reason.

Moneycontrol says the party-versus-state CMC distinction is significant.

ThePrint

Xi’s purge continues: China’s top general, joint staff chief axed from apex military body

Debdutta Chakraborty

Published 29 Aug 2026 accessed 1 Sep 2026

Facts

ThePrint says Xi abruptly removed Zhang and Liu from the seven-member CMC in January.

Zhang Youxia’s removal marks the exit of the last senior CMC members from before Xi’s latest appointments.

All six commanders Xi appointed to the CMC in 2022 are now away from public view.

The state CMC was established under China’s 1982 Constitution as the body responsible for directing the armed forces.

In 2025 the Communist Party opened more than one million formal corruption investigations, nearly seven times the number when Xi first came to power.

The state CMC oversees personnel appointments, PLA resources, regulations, and statutes.

In 2025 the party expelled nine top generals in one of the largest public military crackdowns in decades.

The state CMC chairman is designated commander in chief of the armed forces.

Zhang Shengmin was elevated to the commission only last year.

In April 2026 Xinjiang party secretary Ma Xingrui was placed under investigation.

Ma Xingrui’s case marked the first time since Mao that three sitting Politburo members were removed in one five-year party term.

A May 2026 Foreign Affairs article said the anticorruption push had become an apparatus for managing cadres and enforcing political priorities.

The Foreign Affairs article said Xi’s discipline campaign should be understood as an effort to transform the CCP itself.

Vice chairman He Weidong was removed from the CMC in March 2025.

The March 2025 ouster of He Weidong made him the first sitting Politburo member purged in years.

Many of those removed were Central Committee members and among the highest-ranking military officers.

Miao Hua, He Hongjun, and Wang Xiubin were all expelled.

Vice chairman He Weidong had been the second-highest-ranking officer in China after Xi.

Vice chairman He Weidong has not appeared in public since March.

Eastern Theatre commander Lin Xiangyang was also removed.

Qin Shutong, Yuan Huazhi, Wang Houbin, and Wang Chunning were expelled too.

Opinion

Zhang Youxia was seen as one of Xi’s closest confidants.