Zhang Youxia serves as second-in-command under President Xi Jinping as vice-chairman of the Central Military Commission - the supreme command body - and has long been seen as Xi's closest military ally.

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The ministry said Zhang and Liu Zhenli, chief of staff of the CMC's Joint Staff Department, were under investigation for suspected serious violations of discipline and law.

Zhang is also a member of the elite Politburo of the ruling Communist Party and is one of just a few leading officers with combat experience.

The military was one of the main targets of a broad corruption crackdown ordered by Xi in 2012. That drive reached the upper echelons of the People's Liberation Army in 2023 when the elite Rocket Force was targeted.

Zhang's removal is the second of a sitting general on the Central Military Commission since the 1966-76 Cultural Revolution. He has not been seen in public since November 20, when he held talks with Russia's defence minister in Moscow.




Foreign diplomats and security analysts are watching developments closely, given Zhang's closeness to Xi and the importance of the commission's work in terms of command as well as the PLA's ongoing military modernisation and posture.