China makes Zhang Shengmin vice-chair of China’s Central Military Commission

China has promoted Zhang Shengmin, the military’s anti-graft chief, to vice-chair of the powerful Central Military Commission (CMC) headed by President Xi Jinping.

Zhang Fengzhong, a senior general with the PLA’s Rocket Force, has been placed under a corruption probe. Zhang Fengzhong was an alternative member of the Central Committee.

The decisions were announced in the communique of the fourth plenary session of the Party Central Committee, which concluded on Thursday.

Zhang Shengmin, 67, serves as secretary of the CMC’s Commission for Discipline Inspection, overseeing anti-corruption efforts within China’s armed forces.

He served in a group army in the western province of Shaanxi for many years.

From 2004 to 2015, he worked within China’s nuclear forces, the Second Artillery Corps – the former name of the Rocket Force – as director of the Political Department, a key position overseeing ideological and personnel affairs.