The Chinese Communist Party on the 23rd (local time) wrapped up the Fourth Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee after a four-day schedule. Major foreign media summarized the meeting with two words: "successor" and "purge." Chinese President Xi Jinping gave no hint about a next leader at this fourth plenum. Instead, Xi solidified his one-man rule and reaffirmed the achievement of mid- to long-term goals for 2035. This is seen as a strong signal suggesting the possibility of a fourth term for Xi from 2027 to 2032. Just before the plenum, Xi carried out a large-scale purge of nine core military figures and appointed Zhang Shengmin, the "anti-corruption commander," as vice chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC), a post that had been vacant. Analysts say Xi reaffirmed his grip on the military through a "bloody purge" that cut even close associates and laid the groundwork for long-term rule.
According to the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) on the 24th, at this fourth plenum the Chinese Communist Party approved recommendations for the 15th five-year plan, which will apply from 2026 to 2030. The party's Central Committee plenary session is held seven times during a five-year term. The fourth plenum usually deals with the party's governing ideology, but this time it unusually discussed an economic plan. It is the aftereffect of the third plenum, which should have been held last fall, being delayed for nearly a year.
Initially, the media focused on the power structure for the 21st Party Congress to be held in 2027. The Chinese Communist Party holds a party congress every five years to decide the top leadership. Because preparing a successor takes time, candidates should have been emerging around now to discuss a 2027 succession structure. But at this year's fourth plenum, there was no selection or hint of anyone who could be seen as Xi's successor. Instead, the meeting's outcome emphasized Xi's status as the "core" and the achievement of long-term goals for 2035.
On the 18th, just before the meeting, the Ministry of National Defense announced that nine generals of full general rank would be expelled from the party, including former CMC Vice Chairman He Weidong and former director of the Political Work Department Miao Hua. The official reason was serious job-related crimes and large-scale corruption allegations. According to the BBC, it was the largest military purge in decades for the Chinese Communist Party to expel nine people from the CMC at once.
In particular, the purge of He Weidong sent strong shock waves. He ranked second among uniformed officers after Xi and concurrently held a seat on the Politburo, the top leadership. According to Nikkei Asia, since the Cultural Revolution (1966–1976), He Weidong is the first sitting CMC vice chairman to be purged. Miao Hua was also a key figure who oversaw military ideology and personnel.
Many of the nine purged were classified as the "Fujian faction," whom Xi personally selected through ties formed when he worked in Fujian Province. He Weidong, Miao Hua, and Lin Xiangyang (former commander of the Eastern Theater Command) all came from the 31st Group Army (now the 73rd Group Army), headquartered in Xiamen, Fujian Province, facing Taiwan. Experts said this showed Xi acknowledging personnel mistakes regarding close associates he had picked himself and cutting them.
At the fourth plenum, the Chinese Communist Party appointed Commissioner Zhang Shengmin, 67, as the CMC's second vice chairman to fill the vacancy created by He Weidong's fall. It was an unconventional promotion that elevated the equivalent of the military's chief prosecutor to the military's No. 2. The new vice chairman Zhang was born in 1958 and hails from Wugong County, Shaanxi Province, the same as Xi. He enlisted in 1978 and served in places including the Lanzhou Military Region, and in January 2017 became secretary of the CMC Discipline Inspection Commission, leading the military anti-corruption purge for eight years. Reuters said, "Vice Chairman Zhang survived even while serving in the Rocket Force (formerly the Second Artillery) and the General Logistics Department, which were key targets of Xi's anti-corruption drive," and assessed him as "a figure whose loyalty to Xi has been thoroughly verified."
Foreign Policy (FP), a U.S. foreign affairs magazine, cited debt liquidation as the reason behind the intense military purge. FP analyzed that after witnessing the reality of Russian military corruption in the Ukraine war, Xi launched a sweeping investigation into the People's Liberation Army's capabilities, especially procurement corruption involving the Rocket Force, which handles many advanced defense industry weapons. The purge of nine generals is seen as an extension of this probe.
The second is a power struggle. The Diplomat, a U.S. foreign affairs magazine, analyzed the situation as a covert battle between First Vice Chairman Zhang Youxia of the military elders' "princelings" (children of revolutionary elders) and the emerging Fujian faction. Zhang Youxia's father was a revolutionary elder of the same generation as Xi's father, Xi Zhongxun. By contrast, figures such as He Weidong and Miao Hua enlisted as rank-and-file soldiers with only a high school education and rose from the bottom. The Diplomat presented a scenario in which, after He Weidong (Fujian faction) first purged the Rocket Force, a princelings' domain, and even removed Zhang Youxia's associate Li Shangfu (former minister of the Ministry of National Defense), Zhang Youxia (princelings) struck back and ousted He Weidong and Miao Hua.
Members of the Central Military Commission, which numbered seven in October 2022, have fallen to four after Li Shangfu, He Weidong, and Miao Hua were purged. Excluding President Xi Jinping and the newly appointed Vice Chairman Zhang Shengmin, only Vice Chairman Zhang Youxia, also from the princelings, and Chief of Staff Liu Zhenli remain.
Neil Thomas, a fellow at the Asia Society Policy Institute, told the WSJ, "Xi Jinping is not worried about his reputation as he removes officials he appointed himself," adding, "because he believes he has firm control over elite politics."