China promotes sole military general to top party body

The Communist Party of China has completed a four day closed door session where it reshaped its highest governing body and reinforced its internal rules.

On Thursday, party leaders elected Gen. Zhang Shengmin to the Politburo, the central committee that directs the nation. Zhang serves as vice chairman of the Central Military Commission. He is the only general currently on that commission. The addition restores military representation to the top leadership tier after earlier removals.

President Xi Jinping had previously removed two senior generals from the commission. Those actions left Zhang as the sole military member alongside Xi. The Politburo had operated without any People's Liberation Army representatives since those purges. Zhang also holds a role overseeing military discipline as deputy secretary of the CMC Commission for Discipline Inspection.

During the meeting, leaders adopted a resolution focused on self governance, discipline, and anti corruption. The party stated that its tasks are increasingly arduous, including the need to safeguard national sovereignty and security. The resolution called for maintaining ideological purity and strengthening ties with the public to ensure long term governance capacity.

Xi has led a sustained anti corruption campaign since taking power in 2012. Analysts note that the current focus has expanded to include underperforming officials. The plenum confirmed the earlier personnel changes, effectively ratifying the previous purges of top members and military officials.

Neil Thomas, a senior fellow at Asia Policy, analyzed the attendance figures from the meeting. He calculated a 74 percent attendance rate, which is the lowest recorded since the era of former leader Mao Zedong. Thomas noted that the purges revealed during the session were wider than expected. This meeting occurs approximately one year before Xi is widely expected to secure a fourth five year term as party leader.