China Promotes General Zhang Shengmin to Politburo

Chinese leaders elevated General Zhang Shengmin to the Communist Party’s Politburo on Thursday.

Zhang is the only remaining general on the Central Military Commission. He currently serves as vice chairman of that body. The Politburo is the top governing group within the party.

The decision came at the end of a four-day closed-door meeting. Party leaders used the session to adopt resolutions that will guide the group in the coming years. The timing arrives about a year before President Xi Jinping is expected to win a fourth five-year term as party leader.

Xi previously removed two top generals from the commission. Those actions left Zhang as the sole military member alongside Xi. The changes also left the Politburo without any representatives from the People’s Liberation Army. Zhang also holds a role overseeing internal military discipline. He serves as deputy secretary of the CMC Commission for Discipline Inspection.

The party released a summary of a new resolution on self-governance. The text described the tasks facing the party as increasingly arduous. It cited the need to unite and lead the people to safeguard national sovereignty, security, and development interests. The resolution emphasized rooting out corruption and maintaining ideological purity. According to the summary distributed by Xinhua News Agency, the party must maintain its progressive nature and close ties with the people while enhancing its long-term governance capacity.

Xi has championed anti-corruption efforts since taking power in 2012. The crackdown on officials has continued for more than a decade. Analysts note that the current focus now includes underperforming officials. Party members reviewed the earlier removals of top members and military officials during the session. They confirmed the personnel changes.

Neil Thomas, a senior fellow at Asia Policy who studies Chinese politics, analyzed the attendance records from the plenum. He calculated an attendance rate of 74 percent. That figure marks the lowest rate since the era of former leader Mao Zedong. Mao regularly ran political purges. The party confirmed the wider-than-expected scope of the recent personnel shifts.