China has expelled Ma Xingrui, a 67-year-old former Politburo member, from the ruling Communist Party on corruption charges. He is accused of a wide range of offenses, including abuse of power and trading political favors for sex.
Ma is the third member of the Politburo to be purged since 2022, a situation unseen in decades. This development comes as President Xi Jinping intensifies a yearslong fight to root out corruption that has ensnared senior officials of the Communist Party, government, and military.
Before his expulsion, Ma Xingrui led the Xinjiang region and previously served as the head of China's space program.