On November 3, Zhang Shengmin, Secretary of the Military Discipline Commission who was recently added to the Politburo, met with Russian Defense Minister Andrei Belousov at Diaoyutai.
The Russian Defense Minister visited China and met with Zhang Shengming, Vice Chairman of the Central Military Commission. According to protocol, he should have met with the Chinese Defense Minister, but Dong Jun did not attend the meeting, further fueling speculation about his disappearance.
On October 29, the Fifth Plenary Session of the 20th CCP Central Committee concluded. There were 162 Central Committee members and 117 alternate members in attendance, a significant decrease compared to the previous session. The plenary session elected Zhang Shengmin as a member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee and promoted only 10 alternate members to full Central Committee members, bypassing civilian officials such as Cong Liang, Ji Lin, and Zhu Hexin, as well as two deputy commanders of the People's Armed Police.
An analysis released by the Brookings Institution on October 23 points out that after the purge of the 44 military members of the CCP Central Committee, only 17 remain in name, with only Defense Minister Dong Jun and Zhang Shengmin still making public appearances.
On September 16, Vice Chairman of the Central Military Commission Zhang Shengmin officially met with Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of National Defense Phan Van Giang, who was visiting China, and talked about the consensus between the top leaders of the two parties and two countries as well as the 3+3 strategic dialogue mechanism involving diplomacy, national defense and public security.
The Central Military Commission held a collective study session, but the top commander was absent. Taking advantage of this, Zhang Shengmin summoned key generals holding real power in the capital garrison to the August 1 Building to carry out Beidaihe duty assignments.
The special seminar for senior cadres of the entire military held by the National Defense University has concluded. Zhang Shengmin, secretary of the Military Commission Discipline Inspection Commission, attended the closing, while Xi Jinping did not attend.
The video claims that Zhang Shengmin slipped away during the national Two Sessions and subsequently resumed his participation in the daily work of the Central Military Commission.
Rumor has it that on January 20, 2026, the day an incident involving Zhang Youxia and Liu Zhenli occurred at the Central Party School, Cai Qi briefly took control of the two men: Central Military Commission Vice Chairman Zhang Shengmin and Director of the Central Guard Bureau Zhou Hongxu.
From late 2025 to early 2026, Xi Jinping promoted several generals in the Central Military Commission: Zhang Shengmin as vice chairman of the Central Military Commission, Zhang Shuguang as secretary of the Commission for Discipline Inspection, Wang Gang as commander of the Air Force, Yang Zhibin as commander of the Eastern Theater Command, and Han Shengyan as commander of the Central Theater Command, all promoted to full general.
The Fourth Plenary Session of the 20th CCP Central Committee was held from October 20 to 23, 2025. When it concluded, it was decided to add Zhang Shengmin as Vice Chairman of the Central Military Commission.