China links family of ex-Politburo member Ma Xingrui to ‘rampant corruption’
The former Xinjiang party chief ‘lost his ideals and beliefs’ and betrayed the party’s principles, watchdog finds
Ma, 67, who once headed China’s new-generation carrier rocket programme, is the third member of the Politburo – the party’s elite political body – to come under investigation in the current term that began in 2022, a situation unseen in decades.
Before his role in Xinjiang, Ma became deputy party secretary of the southern province of Guangdong in 2013 after a brief stint at the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. He went on to become party secretary of Shenzhen, provincial vice-governor and then governor.
The Politburo reviewed and approved the report on Ma’s cases by the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI), the party’s top disciplinary and anti-corruption body, on June 30, state news agency Xinhua reported on Tuesday.
Ma was found to have “lost his ideals and beliefs”, abandoned “his political conviction”, “betrayed the party’s principles and original mission” and “seriously violated [the party’s] political discipline and rules”, the report said.
China announced the investigation into Ma in April.