China has investigated the status of six senior military officers, former financial regulator Li Yunze and, most recently, former Politburo member Ma Xingrui as lawmakers in the National People’s Congress (NPC), the latest sign that President Xi Jinping’s sweeping anti-corruption campaign continues to target the country’s political and military establishment.The legislature removed the officials from their posts without giving any reason for the dismissal, according to a notice issued by the NPC Standing Committee and reported by Reuters citing state-run Xinhua news agency. There was no immediate response from China’s Defense Ministry to a Reuters request for comment.The move marks a further escalation in Xi’s years-long anti-corruption campaign, which has led to the investigations, purges and expulsions of dozens of senior Communist Party officials and top People’s Liberation Army (PLA) commanders.Among those removed was General Xu Xueqiang, head of the equipment development department of the Central Military Commission (CMC), the body responsible for overseeing the development, acquisition and testing of military equipment for the PLA. Xu has also served as commander-in-chief of China’s manned space program from 2022.General Li Fengbiao, Political Commissar of the PLA Western Theater Command, was also stripped of his lawmaker status; General Guo Puxiao, Political Commissar of the PLA Air Force; Lieutenant General Wang Congping of Eastern Theater Command; Lieutenant General Zhang Minghua of the Cybersecurity Force; and Army Lieutenant General Yin Hongxing.According to the South China Morning Post (SCMP), there were already indications that several dismissed commanders were under investigation.The newspaper reported that General Xu did not attend an important Communist Party meeting in October last year, while Lieutenant General Wang Congping attended the meeting but was not promoted to full membership of the Party Central Committee. Lieutenant General Yin Hongxing was also absent when Xi made a surprise visit to Tibet last August, fueling speculation about his condition.In addition to the military, the NPC also removed Ma Jingrui, former head of the Xinjiang Communist Party, and Li Yunze, former head of the National Financial Regulatory Administration, from the legislature.Ma, a former member of the Communist Party’s powerful Politburo, stepped down as Xinjiang party secretary in July last year, with Xinhua saying at the time that he would be “assigned to another position”. However, according to the SCMP, China’s top anti-corruption watchdog, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI), had placed him under investigation in April this year.The SCMP also reported that Li Yunzhe’s profile was suddenly removed from the National Financial Regulatory Administration’s website in April, ahead of the appointment of his successor the following month.The legislature also removed Guo Yonghong, a former Communist Party secretary of Guangzhou and a close associate of Ma Xingrui. Guo was placed under investigation by the CCDI in March, according to the newspaper.The latest removals come as Xi continues to tighten his grip on the military. The SCMP reported that the anti-corruption campaign has already removed dozens of senior PLA commanders, including members of the Politburo. Of the seven members of the Central Military Commission appointed at the Communist Party Congress in 2022, only Xi and PLA anti-corruption chief Zhang Shengmin remain in office.Xi has repeatedly stressed that the military will remain the central focus of the campaign.According to the SCMP, during the annual meetings of China’s legislature and top political advisory body, Xi said in March, “The armed forces carry the gun. There should never be a place in the military for those half-hearted towards the Party, nor a haven for corrupt people.”The latest reshuffle underscores how Xi’s anti-corruption campaign, now more than a decade old, continues to reshape the upper levels of China’s military, political leadership and financial regulatory system.