China's Xi Purges Beijing's Deputy Mayor Days Before Key Party Meeting

Beijing deputy mayor Xia Linmao has disappeared from public view, the latest casualty of China's intensifying anti-corruption drive. The timing was arresting: only days earlier, state television had shown him meeting with Walmart CEO John Furner and other American executives, nodding and taking notes as his boss urged the group to invest more in Beijing.

His downfall comes just ahead of a high-level closed-door meeting of more than 200 party elite in Beijing — a gathering that President Xi Jinping, 73, is expected to use to further cement his authority ahead of an unprecedented fourth term, anticipated at the next party congress next fall.

The scale of the purge has grown sharply. According to the party's Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, more than 500 ministerial-level officials were probed between 2012 and 2022. In just the past three years, more than 410 officials have been purged. Targets have included a former top judge, a spy chief, dozens of military generals, and even officials whose job was to root out corruption. In May, two former defense ministers — Wei Fenghe and Li Shangfu — received suspended death sentences with a two-year reprieve after being convicted of bribery.

Since Xi came to power more than 14 years ago, millions of rank-and-file officials have been caught up in the campaign. The relentless purging has eliminated most figures or factions capable of challenging his dominance, leaving Xi with no obvious successor — a situation that, some analysts say, suits him perfectly.