The public notice of the 5th Plenary Session of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection of the Chinese Communist Party showed that 13 members of the commission were absent from the meeting, with an absentee rate of nearly 10%. Among the 13 absentees are 10 senior military commanders, Xu Xianping, Chairman of the Weapons Equipment Group, Shen Xiaohui, former head of the disciplinary inspection team of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, and the late Jiang Xinjun, disciplinary secretary of the Xinjiang Construction Corps.
The 5th Plenary Session of the 20th Central Discipline Inspection Commission of the Chinese Communist Party was held from January 12th to 14th, 2026. According to the meeting report, there were 120 members of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection who attended this plenary session.
In October 2022, the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China elected 133 members of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection. This means that 13 members of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection were absent from the 5th plenary session, with an absentee rate of nearly 10%.
A post from the account “Chinese Personnel Observation” on January 14, 2026, stated that the 13 absences from the 5th Plenary Session of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection set a record for previous plenary sessions; the main reason being that 10 members from the military system were absent, along with Xu Xianping, Shen Xiaohui, and Jiang Xinjun. Jiang Xinjun, the disciplinary secretary of the Xinjiang Construction Corps, passed away in November 2024.
The post also mentioned that Xu Xianping, Chairman of the Weapons Equipment Group, and Shen Xiaohui, former head of the disciplinary inspection team stationed at the Ministry of Civil Affairs, were also absent from the 4th Plenary Session of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection in January 2025; Xu Xianping is one of the “missing” former heads of state-owned military industrial enterprises.
Two days before the plenary session of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, according to CCTV reports, 10 out of 22 members from the military system of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection were absent, including senior military leaders like Chen Guoqiang, Political Commissar of the National University of Defense Technology, and Sun Bin, Director of the Audit Office of the Military Commission. Sun Bin was removed from his position as a national People’s Congress deputy on October 28, 2025.
Xu Xianping, who was absent from the plenary session of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, was born in September 1964 in Lishu County, Jilin Province. He held various positions at China FAW Group Corporation (FAW) before becoming Chairman and Party Secretary of China North Industries Group Corporation Limited in July 2016, and Chairman and Party Secretary of China Ordnance Equipment Group Corporation in June 2020.
The Weapons Equipment Group held its annual work conference on January 16, 2025, with General Manager Zhang Yujin presenting, but Chairman Xu Xianping was not in attendance. On January 18, 2025, the Weapons Equipment Group held a Chinese New Year gathering for retired employees, during which Chairman Xu Xianping was absent again. It was rumored that Xu Xianping, a member of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, had also been absent from the 4th Plenary Session of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection held from January 6 to 8, 2025.
In February 2025, Liu Weidong, Deputy General Manager of the Weapons Equipment Group, was reported to have fallen from grace. Liu Weidong had been a member of the Party Committee and Deputy General Manager of the Weapons Equipment Group since May 2018, working under Xu Xianping for nearly five years.
The Weapons Equipment Group is a super large state-owned military enterprise engaged in the research, design, and manufacturing of military equipment, including self-propelled artillery systems, howitzers, aerial bombs, firearms, and more.
In recent years, the military’s anti-corruption campaign has spread to the military-industrial complex. According to official reports and media compilations, at least 12 state-owned military enterprises, including China National Nuclear Corporation, China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation, China Aviation Industry Corporation, China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation, China Ordnance Industry Group, and China Electronics Technology Group, have had senior personnel investigated, removed from office, or stay out of the public eye in recent years.
Shen Xiaohui, who was absent from the plenary session of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, was a member of the 19th and 20th Central Commission for Discipline Inspection of the Chinese Communist Party. After graduating with a master’s degree in agricultural economics from Renmin University of China in 1987, Shen Xiaohui held various positions in the State Council Office, the State Economic and Trade Commission, the Macro department of the State Council Research Office, and the International department. In December 2016, he became the director of the Case Supervision and Management Office of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (vice ministerial level), and by 2021, he served as a member of the Party Committee of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, and head of the disciplinary inspection team stationed at the Ministry of Civil Affairs by the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and the National Supervision Commission.
In July 2024, Liu Chunlei, director of the Ninth Supervision and Inspection Office of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and the National Supervision Commission, replaced Shen Xiaohui as the head of the disciplinary inspection team stationed at the Ministry of Civil Affairs, while Shen Xiaohui’s whereabouts became unknown.
The “Bingtuan Daily” of the Chinese Communist Party reported on November 5, 2025, that Jiang Xinjun, a member of the 20th Central Commission for Discipline Inspection of the Chinese Communist Party, party committee member and deputy political commissar of the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps (Xinjiang Corps), secretary of the disciplinary inspection commission, and head of the supervisory commission, “unexpectedly fell ill during work and all rescue efforts were in vain,” passing away on November 3, 2025, at the age of 56.
Jiang Xinjun, born in August 1969, had a long career in Xinjiang, serving as deputy director of the Xinjiang Supervision Department in May 2016, then as a member of the Party Committee of Xinjiang and deputy director of the Supervision Department in November 2016, and eventually as deputy director of the Xinjiang Supervision Commission in January 2018.
Ma Xingrui succeeded Chen Quanguo as the Secretary of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region Party Committee of the Communist Party of China in late December 2021, also assuming the position of the first political commissar of the Xinjiang Corps and the first secretary of the Corps Party Committee. Subsequently, in July 2022, Jiang Xinjun was appointed as a member of the Party Committee, deputy political commissar of the Xinjiang Corps, secretary of the disciplinary inspection commission, and head of the supervisory commission.
Jiang Xinjun’s “sudden death” at that particular time was sensitive. In April 2025, the 13th Central Inspection Team arrived in the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps for a two and a half month inspection. In early July 2025, Ma Xingrui was removed from his position as Secretary of the Xinjiang Party Committee. In mid-July 2025, the First Central Inspection Team arrived in Xinjiang for a two and a half month inspection.
Following the arrival of the inspection teams, officials from Xinjiang and the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps have been falling from grace one after another. After Ma Xingrui was removed from his position, high-risk signals repeatedly emerged, and rumors of turmoil spread. Just on the eve of the 5th plenary session of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection on January 8, 2026, Li Xu, a member of the Party Committee and Deputy Commander of the Xinjiang Corps was also taken down.