China expels ex-Xinjiang official from Communist Party over graft

Ma Xingrui, 66, was a member of the Communist Party's Politburo, a top decision-making body headed by President Xi Jinping that effectively runs the country.

The Politburo approved a report by the party's anti-corruption watchdog that set out a long list of allegations against Ma, who has been under investigation since April, state news agency Xinhua said.

The investigation found that Ma had "helped family members purchase homes at below-market prices, engaged in power-for-sex and money-for-sex transactions, and allowed family members to exploit the influence of his position to seek huge benefits", Xinhua reported.

He also "sought benefits for others in business operations, project contracting and job promotion, and illegally accepted huge amounts of money and valuables", it said, adding that his case was "particularly serious".

Ma was in charge of Xinjiang between 2021 and 2025.

The northeastern region faced a series of deadly attacks on civilians until the mid-2010s that Beijing blamed on armed separatist and Islamist groups.

Over the last decade, the region has been subject to a strict crackdown by Chinese authorities in the name of counter-terrorism, targeting primarily the Uyghur Muslim minority accused of involvement in the attacks.

Human rights organisations have condemned the crackdown.

An explosive 2022 report by former UN high commissioner for human rights Michelle Bachelet cited possible "crimes against humanity" in Xinjiang.