On March 11, 2026, the closing ceremony of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) was held, and four current vice-national-level officials were absent. The absentees included Politburo member Ma Xingrui, Vice Chairman of the CPPCC Chen Wu, Vice Chairman of the National People’s Congress Hao Mingjin, and State Council Vice Premier Zhang Guoqing, who was on an overseas visit. Ma Xingrui, Chen Wu, and Hao Mingjin had all previously been absent from the opening ceremonies of the CPPCC and NPC sessions.
Ma Xingrui, a member of the Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party, had been relieved of his position as Party Secretary of Xinjiang in July 2025, leading to ongoing speculation about his downfall. Since late October 2025, after attending the Fourth Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the CCP, Ma Xingrui has remained out of the public eye and absent from high-level CCP meetings.
According to Xinhua News Agency, the 14th National Committee of the CPPCC closed its fourth session on the morning of March 11, 2026. The meeting was supposed to be attended by 2,125 CPPCC members, but only 2,059 were present, with 66 members absent.
The political bureau’s seven standing committee members and current vice-national-level officials were seated on the podium. Among the 23 current vice chairpersons of the CPPCC, only Chen Wu was absent, and out of the 14 Vice Chairpersons of the NPC, only Hao Mingjin, the Chairman of the China Democratic National Construction Association, was missing.
Chen Wu and Hao Mingjin had previously missed the opening sessions of the CPPCC on March 4 and the NPC on March 5.
The National People’s Congress website shows that since October 2025, Hao Mingjin has continuously been absent from meetings of the Standing Committee and Chairpersons of the National People’s Congress.
According to the CPPCC website, Chen Wu also missed the 46th Chairman’s meeting of the CPPCC on February 6, 2026, and the 15th Standing Committee meeting on March 1, 2026.
In addition, Chen Wu had been absent from the 35th and 36th Chairman’s meetings of the CPPCC in 2025. At that time, his former deputy and then Chairman of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Lan Tianli, fell from grace in May 2025.
Chen Wu served as the Chairman of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region Government from April 2013 to October 2020. Lan Tianli served as the Vice Chairman and Executive Vice Chairman of the Autonomous Region Government from November 2011 to January 2018 and had been Chen Wu’s deputy for nearly five years.
At the closing meeting of the CPPCC on March 11, 2026, 12 current members of the Political Bureau, including Wang Yi, Yin Li, Liu Guozhong, Li Ganjie, Li Shulei, Li Hongzhong, He Lifeng, Chen Wenqing, Chen Jinping, Chen Min’er, Yuan Jiajun, and Huang Kunming, were present on the podium. However, Ma Xingrui and Zhang Guoqing were absent, with Zhang Guoqing attending a nuclear energy summit in Paris from March 9 to 12, 2026.
Ma Xingrui had previously been absent from the opening sessions of the CPPCC and NPC on March 4 and 5, 2026.
It was reported that on March 4, 2026, former senior leader of the CCP, Song Ping, passed away in Beijing, with his body cremated on March 10, 2026. Current high-ranking CCP officials paid their respects by sending wreaths, except for Ma Xingrui, who was absent.
During the farewell ceremony of former State Councilor and Minister of Finance, Wang Bingqian, on December 14, 2025, Ma Xingrui did not send a wreath. Similarly, during the farewell ceremony of former National People’s Congress Vice Chairman, Peng Peiyun, on December 26, 2025, Ma Xingrui also did not send a wreath.
Ma Xingrui had been unusually relieved of his position as Party Secretary of Xinjiang in July 2025, leading to rumors of his downfall.
Ma Xingrui’s last public appearance was at the Fourth Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the CCP from October 20 to 23, 2025. Since then, for the past five months, he has been absent from high-level CCP meetings.
Following Ma Xingrui’s dismissal, there has been a continuous purge in the Xinjiang and Guangdong political arenas, as well as in the aerospace and defense industries where he previously held positions.