The Chinese Communist Party’s Politburo held a meeting yesterday (25th) to “study and deploy” the anti-corruption work for 2026, claiming to implement “higher standards and more practical measures.” Some analysts point out that the Politburo’s year-end meeting specifically on anti-corruption is evidence of the worsening corruption trend, undermining the authority of CCP leader Xi Jinping.
In the past six years, the Politburo only held one meeting in December each year, covering topics of anti-corruption and the economy. However, the meeting held on the 8th of this month addressed only economic issues, and on the 25th, Xi Jinping presided over a Politburo meeting specifically discussing the “deployment” of anti-corruption work, a scheduling pattern that is more common in Xi’s first term in office.
The meeting proclaimed that in 2026, they will “promote comprehensive and strict governance over the party with higher standards and more practical measures,” striving for “preventing corruption in every aspect, ensuring that no one dares to be corrupt, no one can be corrupt, and no one wants to be corrupt,” and so on.
The meeting confirmed that the 20th Central Commission for Discipline Inspection will convene its fifth plenary session from January 12th to 14th next year.
Current affairs commentator Li Linyi told Epoch Times that in Xi Jinping’s first five years in office, he relied on anti-corruption measures to eliminate political opponents, taking down high-ranking officials such as Zhou Yongkang, Guo Boxiong, Xu Caihou, and Ling Jihua. Therefore, it is normal for the Politburo to specifically hold a meeting to discuss anti-corruption. At that time, the anti-corruption campaign played a certain role in consolidating power and establishing authority for Xi. Now, after six years, holding an additional year-end Politburo meeting to discuss anti-corruption is a move to urgently “put out fires,” undoubtedly indicating that the more they crack down on corruption, the more widespread it becomes, as Xi’s close associates have been falling from grace in large numbers since his third term began, greatly diminishing his authority.
Li Linyi also stated that the current announcement of a more stringent anti-corruption campaign with “higher standards and more practical measures” in 2026 indicates that there may be more senior officials targeted for investigation, and Xi may be using this as an opportunity to shift blame onto others, insinuating that the corruption issues lie with lower-ranking officials.
On December 24th, official reports stated that Wang Jun, Deputy Chairman of the Tibet Autonomous Region People’s Congress, is under investigation. Wang Jun’s downfall marks the 63rd investigation of a senior official at the central level this year.
Since 2025, the authorities have announced the investigation of 63 senior officials at the central level, exceeding last year’s 58 cases, making it the year with the highest number of central-level officials being investigated in history.
“Central-level officials” refer to officials whose appointments are approved by the Communist Party, recorded and managed by the Organization Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party. Officials at the vice-ministerial level and above are considered “central-level officials,” and some senior officials at the director-general and deputy director-general level in key units also fall under this category.
Additionally, many high-ranking officials have not been officially announced to have fallen from grace. After disappearing for a period, they are quietly removed from their positions. The Chairman’s Conference of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference approved the revocation of the qualifications of eight members, including Cao Jianguo, indicating they were investigated and removed from office for “serious violations of discipline and law.” Many of them are high-ranking officials in the military-industrial and energy systems who have not made public appearances after leaving their positions.
Many of the high-ranking officials who have fallen in the past two years were personally promoted by Xi Jinping. Independent commentator Du Zheng stated in an article for Taiwanese media that after the Party’s 20th Congress, Xi’s loyalists took over completely, but now there is a widespread collapse, whether due to corruption or lack of political loyalty. This has severely weakened Xi Jinping’s authority due to the scale of the issue. The entire anti-corruption campaign appears more like others forcing Xi to target his own people, which is a great humiliation for him.