State media said Ma Xingrui was expelled from the Communist Party, removing a senior leader who had served on the 24-member Politburo and previously led Xinjiang.
Party investigators said Ma committed severe discipline and legal violations, including taking gifts and money, trading power for sex and money, and using his position to secure contracts and promotions.
Ma is the third member of the 2022-2027 Politburo to be purged, alongside two military generals, underscoring how Xi Jinping’s anti-corruption drive is reaching the party’s top ranks.
Analysts say the campaign serves both to punish graft and enforce loyalty to Xi; separately, anti-graft authorities on Tuesday opened a probe into Shanxi’s mine-safety chief after a deadly May coal blast.