Former Chinese Politburo member Ma Xingrui charged with taking bribes

A former member of one of China’s top decision-making bodies has been formally charged with accepting bribes, state media reported Thursday, a week after Communist Party leaders confirmed his expulsion from the party.

Prosecutors in Yichang, a city in the central province of Hubei, accused Ma Xingrui of using his leadership positions to accept “exceptionally large” bribes and to secure benefits for others, while also accepting financial assets himself, Xinhua state news agency said.

Ma had been named to the Politburo in 2022 and his downfall became public in April, when authorities said he was being investigated for severe violations of party discipline and national laws, without providing details.

He had served in leadership positions for China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, a state-owned company in charge of aspects of China's space program, as well as the party secretary of Shenzhen, China's technology hub, as well as the Politburo. Prosecutors accused him of using the benefits and powers afforded to him in these positions to carry out his crimes, according to Xinhua, without providing more detail on how he did so.

He was the latest senior official to fall in Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s long-running anti-corruption campaign, a policy reinforced at last week’s closed-door meeting of the Central Committee’s fifth plenum, where the leaders adopted a resolution on strengthening discipline and combating corruption.

The leaders also ratified the expulsions of more than 30 senior officials from the party, including Ma and one who was until early this year the army’s top general.

The Politburo had 24 members before three were recently purged — Ma and two military generals.

Analysts have said that the campaign is a way to enforce loyalty to Xi as well as root out corruption.

Ma was the Communist Party chief of the Xinjiang region until 2025, and before that the governor of Guangdong province, the manufacturing powerhouse bordering Hong Kong in China’s south. In the Chinese system, the party leader outranks the governor in a province or region.