Latest CCP Official Report Leaks: Xi Jinping Is Being Gradually Erased from Zhongnanhai

During the closing ceremony of the Two Sessions, video footage showed that as Xi Jinping was leaving, several Politburo members, including Vice Chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC) He Weidong, turned around and stood by their seats to watch Xi depart. However, Zhang Youxia remained facing forward, not even glancing back as Xi walked past behind him. (Screenshot from video)

[People News] According to Japanese media, Xi Jinping is being gradually erased from Zhongnanhai. The latest CCP reports reveal this development.

According to Apollo News, on April 14, Chinese-Japanese writer and international affairs commentator Shi Ping published an article in Modern Finance, stating that Chinese Communist Party (CCP) leader Xi Jinping’s political status is facing major instability.

Shi wrote that from late March to early April, the phrase “the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core,” which is routinely used in official CCP documents and the People’s Daily, suddenly disappeared, replaced by the simpler term “Party Central Committee.” This suggests that Xi is undergoing a gradual marginalisation within the Party.

For example, the front page of People’s Daily on April 1 featured the “Comprehensive Report on the Fourth Round of Inspections of the 20th Central Committee,” which mentioned the “Party Central Committee” five times but did not use the usual phrase “with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core.” In contrast, earlier inspection reports, such as those from September 2023 and March 2024, explicitly emphasised that “the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core” attached great importance to inspection work. The removal of this phrase is seen as highly unusual.

People’s Daily continued this pared-down language on April 3. Reports that day on the State Council Office’s opinions regarding the price governance mechanism, and on a meeting chaired by CPPCC Chairman Wang Huning, also made no mention of “Comrade Xi Jinping” or key ideological phrases like the “Two Establishes” (兩個確立).

Shi pointed out that this may indicate the CCP has begun a process of decentralising Xi’s role through changes in official language, potentially downgrading him from the core of the Party leadership to just one member within a collective leadership system. It could even hint that political power is quietly shifting away from him.

At the same time, significant changes have occurred in CCP personnel arrangements. On April 2, Xi’s trusted aide Li Ganjie, who has a Tsinghua University background, was reassigned from Minister of the Central Organisation Department to head of the United Front Work Department. He was replaced by Shi Taifeng, who has close ties to the Hu Jintao faction. Li Ganjie, considered a key figure in Xi’s faction, is seen to have fallen from favour with this transfer. The Central Organisation Department is traditionally a core part of the CCP’s power structure, overseeing party-wide personnel and cadre appointments. Shi Taifeng, not part of Xi’s faction and formerly a vice president of the Central Party School with strong connections to Hu Jintao and Li Keqiang, is now in charge of this key department—an important step indicating that non-Xi factions are regaining control over personnel matters.

Shi emphasised that since the downfall of Miao Hua, the head of the Central Military Commission’s Political Work Department, Xi’s control over the military has also unravelled. Now, with the loss of control over the organisational system and the trend of de-emphasising his core status in propaganda, it appears that Xi is being gradually excluded from the three main pillars of power: the Party, the government, and the military.

Shi concluded that this series of political and propaganda changes signals that the CCP may be preparing for a major restructuring ahead of the 21st Party Congress in 2027. Xi Jinping’s dominance within the Party is no longer unshakable.