BEIJING: China said on Saturday the senior vice chairman of its Central Military Commission (CMC) and another high-ranking official were under investigation for suspected "serious violations of discipline".

"Following a review... it has been decided to initiate an investigation into Zhang Youxia and Liu Zhenli," the defense ministry said in a statement.

The two men were "suspected of serious violations of discipline and the law", the ministry said.

Zhang Youxia, 75, is China's highest-ranked general as the more senior CMC vice chairman.

He is also a member of the Politburo, the 24-member executive body of the Chinese Communist Party.

He shares the vice chairman title with Zhang Shengmin.

Zhang Shengmin was promoted to the post in October after Beijing expelled his predecessor.

Both generals rank below Xi, who has held the CMC chairmanship since 2012.

Liu, 61, is the chief of staff of the CMC's joint staff department, which oversees combat planning.

Corrruption investigation

In October, Chinaannounced it had launched corruption investigations into nine military officials.

As part of those probes, the defence ministry said it had expelled two top generals from the military.

They were He Weidong, the former second-ranked CMC vice chairman, and Miao Hua, the former head of the military's political work department.

In 2024, former Chinese defence minister Li Shangfu was expelled from the Communist Party after being ousted over offences including suspected bribery.

Li's predecessor, Wei Fenghe, was also expelled from the party and passed on to prosecutors over alleged corruption.

Chinese Defense Ministry

China says top military official under investigation