China’s Communist Party expels a record number of senior officials
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on Club of Mozambique
The Chinese Communist Party’s fifth plenum expelled a record number of senior officials and recorded the highest absence rate of the post-Mao era, Reuters reports. Convened behind closed doors in Beijing in October 2026, the Central Committee also scheduled the party’s 21st congress for the second half of 2027.
The Chinese Communist Party expelled a record number of senior officials at its fifth plenum, which concluded on Thursday, 29 October 2026, according to Reuters. The meeting also recorded the highest rate of absences in the party’s history since the post-Mao era.
A total of 279 full and alternate members of the Central Committee took part in the meeting, compared with 376 appointed in 2022. Absentees accounted for 25.8% of the original cohort, with several having been removed in purges, according to the official Xinhua report cited by Reuters.
The plenum scheduled the 21st Chinese Communist Party Congress for the second half of 2027, which is expected to pave the way for the next five-year political reshuffle. It also promoted Zhang Shengmin, a senior military official, to the Politburo, Reuters reported.
