The Politburo of the Communist Party of China on Monday expelled from the party former Vice Chairman of China’s Central Military Commission and Politburo member Zhang Youxia, as well as Liu Zhenli, Chief of the Joint Staff Department of the CMC, accusing them of corruption and disloyalty to the party.
This was reported by China Central Television, CCTV.
“The investigation found that Zhang Youxia and Liu Zhenli betrayed their original aspirations and mission, became disloyal to the party, lost their party spirit and principles, and crossed red lines. They seriously violated political discipline and rules, formed cliques, and were disloyal and dishonest to the party; they seriously violated organisational discipline, using their positions to help others with promotions and other matters, and accepted huge sums of money; they seriously violated integrity discipline by accepting gifts and money in breach of the rules,” the statement said. “The sums of money involved are extremely large, the nature of the crimes is extremely serious, and the consequences are extremely negative.”
The Politburo statement also noted that Zhang Youxia and Liu Zhenli will be handed over to military prosecutors, indicating further criminal prosecution. Both generals were removed from their posts back in January 2026.
China’s leader Xi Jinping, after coming to power in 2012, carried out sweeping purges in the People’s Liberation Army. In particular, in May 2026, two former Chinese defence ministers, Wei Fenghe and Li Shangfu, were sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve.
However, Zhang Youxia, China’s most senior military leader, had been regarded as Xi’s closest ally in the armed forces before his removal. They have known each other since childhood, and their fathers fought side by side in the 1940s. In October 2022, despite his age (72), he remained on the Politburo of the CPC Central Committee.
The removal of Zhang and Liu reduced the size of the Central Military Commission — the highest state and party body for military administration in the PRC — to a historic low. Only two now remain: Xi Jinping himself, who heads the body, and Zhang Shengmin, a political commissar who leads the army’s anti-corruption agency. In 2022, the CMC had seven members.