China expelled Ma Xingrui, one of its most senior Communist Party officials, on Tuesday, marking the third Politburo member to be purged since 2022 as President Xi Jinping intensifies his long-running anti-corruption campaign. Ma, the former party secretary for the northwestern region of Xinjiang, was accused of corruption, abuse of power, and trading political favours for sex. The announcement followed his investigation in April for suspected “serious violations of discipline and the law.” Ma has not responded to the claims and has not been seen publicly since.
Significance of Ma's Expulsion
Ma is the first civilian official in the elite Politburo to fall in this latest purge. Previous expulsions in January and October 2023 involved military officials Zhang Youxia and He Weidong. Joseph Torigian, an associate professor at American University and historian of Chinese elite politics, noted, “This is the only civilian [within the Politburo] that’s been purged. I certainly haven’t seen something like that since the purge of the Gang of Four.” The Gang of Four purge in 1976, after Mao Zedong’s death, led to the arrest of four Politburo members accused of attempting to seize power, marking a historic reshuffle of China’s top leadership.
Torigian added that Xi aims to send a message: “Even Politburo members, no matter who you are, can be touched by this kind of crackdown.”
Allegations and Political Implications
China’s Central Commission for Discipline Inspection accused Ma of seeking benefits for others in official appointments, improperly accepting gifts and bribes, helping relatives and associates profit from his position, and presiding over “family corruption.” Christopher Nye, a non-resident fellow at the Jamestown Foundation, observed that the official announcement lacked politically charged language like “two-faced person” or “disloyalty,” yet Ma was still removed. “This suggests that Xi Jinping’s political tolerance has diminished. In the past, you had to be seen as opposing Xi before removal. Now, corruption allegations alone appear sufficient for severe punishment,” Nye said.
The announcement deemed Ma’s behaviour “extremely serious” and accused him of failing to “restrain himself” after the CCP’s 18th National Congress in 2012. Experts noted this explicitly ties his alleged misconduct to Xi’s leadership era. “Before that, Xi wasn’t interested. But anything after 2012 can now become grounds for a purge,” Nye explained.
Ma's Rise and Fall
Ma, 67, was once a promising political figure. An aerospace engineer and technocrat, he became the youngest doctoral supervisor at Harbin Institute of Technology and spent over a decade at the state-owned China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, overseeing major satellite launches and leading China’s crewed spaceflight and lunar exploration projects, earning him the nickname “the young marshal of the aerospace industry.”
His political career accelerated in 2013, when Xi took office. Ma was transferred to Guangdong, a province tied to Xi’s father’s political legacy, serving as deputy provincial party secretary and later governor. In 2021, he became party secretary of Xinjiang, where Beijing has been accused of arbitrarily detaining over a million Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in “re-education” camps. During his tenure, Ma maintained a hardline stance on security and “counter-terrorism,” demonstrating his ability to manage a politically sensitive region.
Xi’s purge may extend beyond Ma. Several former subordinates have come under scrutiny. In 2023, Zhang Jianhua, a former subordinate from the State Administration of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defence, was investigated and expelled for corruption. In March, Guo Yonghang, who worked under Ma in Shenzhen, was also expelled.
