The former defence minister Li Shangfu, who is facing corruption charges, and two other senior commanders have also been removed from the committee.
Once seen as a trusted aide to the president, Qin rose rapidly through the ranks, becoming ambassador to the United States in July 2021, and 17 months later was elevated to foreign minister, the No. 2 position in China’s diplomatic apparatus.
The 58-year-old was ousted as foreign minister at a special session of the National People’s Congress (NPC) Standing Committee in July last year, just seven months after being promoted by President Xi Jinping.
Qin was last seen in public when he met senior diplomats from Russia, Vietnam and Sri Lanka on June 25 last year.
He was then stripped of his position as a state councillor, a position that ranks above a cabinet minister, that October. He was allowed to resign as a NPC member in February ahead of this year’s annual session of the national legislature.
His mysterious disappearance and Beijing’s secretive handling have raised questions about the government’s opaque decision making, becoming a major embarrassment and a political crisis for Xi.
The communique also said that Li, the former defence minister, Li Yuchao, the former rocket force chief, and Sun Jinming, the force’s former chief of staff, have also been removed by the Central Committee.
Li Shangfu was abruptly dismissed as the country’s defence minister and as a state councillor in October after just seven months in the post.
The 66-year-old, who previously oversaw military procurement, was put under investigation in late August, accused of having accepted “large sums of money” to seek benefits for others while also allegedly bribing others.
It was the first time in the history of the People’s Liberation Army that corruption probes into two former defence ministers were made public on the same day.
Wei, 70, who stepped down from the Central Committee two years ago, held the position from 2018 to 2023.
The communique announced that Sun, the former Rocket Force chief of staff, had been expelled from the Communist Party and was facing a corruption investigation.
The force’s head Li Yuchao and eight other senior commanders were dismissed from the NPC last December.
