China Promotes Final General to Elite Political Council

China’s top leadership voted on Thursday to admit General Zhang Shengmin to the Politburo, the country’s highest governing body. This decision places the sole remaining general on the Central Military Commission into the inner circle of the Communist Party. The group had lacked a military voice since President Xi Jinping removed two senior generals from the commission earlier in his tenure.

Zhang serves as vice chairman of the Central Military Commission. He also holds a dual role as deputy secretary of the commission’s discipline inspection unit. His promotion fills a gap left by Xi’s earlier purges, which had stripped the Politburo of all People's Liberation Army representatives.

During the four-day closed-door session, leaders also adopted a resolution focused on party discipline. The document calls for stricter self-governance and measures to combat corruption. The party stated that its tasks are increasingly arduous, requiring it to unite the people to protect national sovereignty and development interests.

The resolution emphasizes maintaining ideological purity and long-term governance capacity. It directs the party to keep close ties with the public while rooting out internal issues. Analysts note that while Xi has championed anti-corruption efforts since 2012, the current focus has expanded to include underperforming officials alongside corrupt ones.

Neil Thomas, a senior fellow at Asia Policy, identified a drop in meeting attendance that signaled the scale of the personnel changes. He calculated that only 74 percent of members attended the plenum. Thomas described this as the lowest rate since the era of former leader Mao Zedong, who regularly conducted political purges.

The party confirmed the earlier removals of top members and military officials during the session. This formal review validated the shifts in leadership structure. The meeting occurred roughly one year before Xi is expected to secure his fourth five-year term as party leader.

The leadership plans to use these resolutions as a guide for the party’s direction in the coming years. The group will continue its work on strengthening internal controls and maintaining its grip on power as it moves toward the next leadership cycle.