China probes Politburo member in widest purge since 1976
Sign up now: Get insights on Asia's fast-moving developments
Mr Ma Xingrui, former party secretary of China’s western Xinjiang region, was placed under investigation for “severe violations” of unspecified laws and party discipline.
PHOTO: REUTERS
BEIJING – China probed another member of its decision-making Politburo, as President Xi Jinping widens his signature anti-corruption campaign.
Mr Ma Xingrui, former party secretary of China’s western Xinjiang region, was placed under investigation for “severe violations” of unspecified laws and party discipline, the Xinhua news agency reported on April 3.
While Mr Ma was not removed from the Politburo, Chinese officials seldom return from public corruption investigations.
Mr Xi has now effectively ousted three Politburo members, after launching probes into China’s top two generals, General He Weidong and General Zhang Youxia.
That amounts to the widest purge of the Politburo in a single term since the Cultural Revolution years when the Gang of Four political faction was probed in 1976, surpassing the turmoil during 1989’s Tiananmen Square crackdown.
Mr Ma’s downfall shrinks the Politburo to its smallest size since 1999 when one official died, leaving the group with just 21 members.
Mr Ma, 66, was once widely seen as a rising political star in China, having hailed from an aerospace background in universities and the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp.
His expertise later earned him a vice-ministerial position.
He worked in Guangdong province from 2013 to 2021, during which he publicly apologised for a landslide in Shenzhen.
His later time in Xinjiang was best remembered for loosening the hardline approach of his predecessor, which featured detention camps and prompted Western sanctions.
His tenure coincided with the Urumqi fire protests in 2022 that rippled across the nation to become one of the worst public outbursts against Mr Xi’s rule.
Several weeks later, Mr Xi’s government started unwinding its harsh Covid Zero strategy for dealing with the pandemic.
Mr Ma was moved out of the autonomous Xinjiang region in July 2025, with an announcement saying he was awaiting his next assignment.
However, signs of trouble started to emerge after he missed a Politburo study session in November 2025 for the first time.
Mr Ma also maintained close ties with Chinese copper tycoon Wang Wenyin from Guangdong to Xinjiang.
Mr Wang’s empire collapsed after the housing bubble burst, and he has been out of the public eye for months. BLOOMBERG
