China expels former Xinjiang chief and space programme veteran Ma Xingrui from Communist Party in deepening Politburo purge

Expulsion from the top

The Chinese Communist Party on Tuesday expelled Ma Xingrui, one of its most senior officials, after the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection submitted a report detailing a long list of corruption allegations. The Politburo, the roughly two-dozen-member body that governs China under President Xi Jinping, approved the findings. Ma becomes the third member of the current Politburo to be purged since 2022, following the removal of military generals He Weidong and Zhang Youxia. According to state media, the Politburo now has 21 members.

It used to be that if you reached the rank of Politburo it would have to be something very, very, very serious before you were taken down. This was changed by Xi. Now, Politburo members drop like bowling pins.

The expulsion marks the deepest purge of the top political body since Deng Xiaoping established the rules that have governed modern China since the 1980s. Xi is directing his anti-corruption drive toward the uppermost levels of government, sending what analysts describe as a clear message to the elite.

By taking a number of them down, he is sending out a clear message: 'Behave and do what you are told.'

The charges

Anti-graft authorities placed Ma under investigation in April. The charges include improperly accepting money and gifts, helping relatives purchase homes at prices below market value, and participating in what Xinhua described as power-for-sex and money-for-sex transactions. The Commission accused him of permitting family members to exploit the influence of his office to secure large advantages and of large-scale family corruption. Investigators also said Ma improperly favoured third parties in official appointments and promotions and illegally accepted huge sums of money and property through relatives and associates.

He lost his ideals and political convictions and betrayed the mission and original principles of the Party.

The Commission described the case as extremely serious and said the impact was particularly harmful. It has been transferred to the public prosecutor for review. The judiciary must now decide whether to impose a prison sentence. The party said it has confiscated what it called his ill-gotten gains.

From spacecraft to Xinjiang

Ma, 66, is an engineer by training and was once celebrated as a rising political elite. He served as an executive at the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation in the 2000s and played a key role in launching the country's first oceanographic satellite. He supervised dozens of satellite launches and several of China's most ambitious crewed space missions. The People's Daily once nicknamed him the young marshal of the aerospace industry.

Ma transitioned into politics and rose rapidly, serving as mayor of Shenzhen, then governor of Guangdong province, before being appointed party secretary of Xinjiang in 2021. He held that post until 2025. Xinjiang is the northwestern region where authorities have cracked down harshly on the Uyghur Muslim minority over the past decade in the name of counter-terrorism. During Ma's tenure, the then UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet issued a report in 2022 that referenced possible crimes against humanity in Xinjiang.

A widening dragnet

Ma's downfall comes as scrutiny intensifies on the defence and aerospace sectors. In February, prosecutors charged Zhang Jianhua, a former deputy director of the State Administration of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defence, with bribery and abuse of influence. Zhang had worked under Ma when Ma headed the regulatory body overseeing the military industry. Reuters has also reported that several officials promoted during Ma's time in Shenzhen and Xinjiang are now under investigation for corruption. The probe appears to target not only Ma individually but also the network of officials that developed under his leadership.