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‘Dirty dozen or so’ set to be dumped from Communist Party’s inner circle

At least eight full members and three alternate ones expected to be expelled when Central Committee meets this week

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The Communist Party’s Central Committee met in late October last year for its sixth plenum. Photo: AFP

The ruling Communist Party’s powerful Central Committee is expected to expel nearly a dozen members brought down by President Xi Jinping’s anti-corruption crusade, when it meets in full in Beijing on Wednesday.

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Xi’s first term saw the downfall of more full and alternate Central Committee members than that of any of his predecessors.

In all, 17 full Central Committee members and another 17 alternate members have fallen from grace since Xi took the party’s helm in late 2012 – more than the total for the four previous Central Committees combined.

While some of the disgraced members were replaced at previous Central Committee plenums – or full meetings – others snared in the last year or so are still on the books to be sacked this time around, ratifying the Politburo’s earlier decisions to expel them from the party.

This time, the list will be long – six full members and three alternate members have been expelled from the party while two other full members have been put on probation since the sixth plenum in October last year.

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