China has formally indicted Ma Xingrui, a former member of the Communist Party’s Politburo, on charges of taking bribes, state media reported on Thursday, moving one of the most senior corruption cases in years from party discipline into the criminal courts.
Prosecutors in Yichang, a city in the central province of Hubei, accused Ma of using his leadership positions to accept “exceptionally large” bribes and to secure benefits for others, according to Xinhua, China’s state news agency. The Supreme People’s Procuratorate, China’s top prosecuting body, brought the indictment.
Ma, 67, joined the Politburo in 2022 after a career that took him from China’s state aerospace industry to some of the country’s most powerful regional posts. A trained rocket scientist, he spent more than a decade at China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, the country’s main spacecraft and missile maker, before entering politics. He served as governor of Guangdong, China’s richest province, and as party chief of the southern tech hub of Shenzhen, before becoming party secretary of Xinjiang in December 2021.
His downfall became public in April, when the party’s anti-corruption watchdog said he was under investigation for suspected serious violations of party discipline and law. He was expelled from the Communist Party in July, and party leaders confirmed the expulsion at the Central Committee’s fifth plenum last week. He is the third sitting Politburo member to be purged since 2025, after the military generals He Weidong and Zhang Youxia.
Investigators said Ma sought benefits for others in the selection and appointment of officials, improperly arranged jobs, accepted gifts, and helped relatives buy property at below-market prices. The party’s disciplinary commission described “rampant family corruption”, saying Ma allowed family members to use his influence to obtain huge benefits and engaged in exchanges of power and money for sex. Several officials who were promoted after Ma became Xinjiang party chief have also been investigated in recent months.
Ma stepped down as Xinjiang party secretary in July 2025 and was given a deputy role in the party’s central rural work group. His case has now followed the familiar path of senior Chinese corruption cases: investigation by the party’s discipline inspectors and the National Supervisory Commission, expulsion from the party, and transfer to prosecutors for trial. No trial date has been announced, and the specific sums involved have not been disclosed.
The indictment comes as Xi Jinping’s long-running anti-corruption campaign shows no sign of slowing. The Central Committee’s plenum last week adopted a resolution on strengthening discipline and combating corruption, and Ma’s case — the first civilian Politburo member to fall for corruption since 2017 — underlines that even the party’s most senior ranks remain within its reach.
Sources: Reuters, “China indicts ex-Politburo member Ma for bribery” (https://www.reuters.com/world/china/china-indicts-ex-politburo-member-ma-bribery-2026-11-05/); Associated Press, “Former Chinese Politburo member Ma Xingrui charged with taking bribes”; Xinhua News Agency. Note: the indictment was announced by Chinese state media; the specific sums allegedly involved have not been disclosed and the charges are allegations that have yet to be tested in court.
