The Central Committee of China's ruling Communist Party replaced 11 members at a key meeting in Beijing this week amid an ongoing military purge.
The change, reported by Chinese state media on Thursday, represents the highest turnover of officers and personnel since 2017.
Veteran general Zhang Shengmin, 67, was promoted to second-ranked vice chair of the powerful Central Military Commission (CMC), replacing He Weidong who was expelled from the party last week on corruption charges.
His removal was the first of a sitting general on the military commission since the 1966-1976 Cultural Revolution.
Eight other People’s Liberation Army generals were also ousted last week.
National news agency Xinhua announced the changes on Thursday, citing an official statement from the party. It was released on the last day of the fourth plenum, a key closed-door meeting of the 300-plus member body.
It is the highest turnover at a single Central Committee meeting since 2017's plenum, when a then- record 11 members were replaced.
Since coming into power in 2012, President Xi Jinping has spearheaded a sweeping anti-corruption campaign targeting the party and government. Over the course of his first five-year term, he replaced a record 19 Central Committee members.
Xi showing strength through purge
Eight of the generals expelled last week were also Central Committee members, and some of their investigations had not previously been disclosed.
"By purging these officers before the plenum altogether and all at once, Xi is sending a clear shot across the bow to the military high command ahead and asserting his dominance," Jon Czin, a People's Liberation Army expert at the Brookings Institution, told Reuters news agency.
He Weidong, the ousted former vice-chair, was thought to have been a close military confidante of Xi. Both men served in Fujian province in the 1990s.
He had also been part of the 24-member politburo. A replacement for his role on the top policymaking body was not announced at the plenum.
Zhang was promoted to the CMC in 2017 and became a full general the same year. He is currently head of the CMC Commission for Discipline Inspection, overseeing PLA anti-corruption efforts.
He also concurrently serves as deputy secretary of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, China's top anti-corruption body, wielding an unusually high degree of power for a military officer within the civilian Communist Party system.
Analysts say this reflects the exceptional degree of trust placed in him by Xi.
The formerly seven-member CMC headed by Xi has lost three members since 2023 in a string of anti-corruption probes.
Reuters/ABC
