Xi Purges PLA Top Brass, Implications for Rare Earths

Chinese leader Xi Jinping has removed General Zhang Youxia, a vice chairman of the Central Military Commission and long-time confidant, citing "grave violations of discipline and the law," part of a broader purge of senior PLA figures.

Since 2022 Xi has sidelined nearly all the generals he appointed, leaving the commission effectively concentrated around Xi and a single enforcer tasked with reorganizing the command. The shakeup represents an unusually deep destabilization of the PLA high command and signals an intensified drive to assert political control over military and industrial levers of power.

That consolidation has immediate relevance for strategic materials. China tightly couples its military, industrial policy, and resource governance; a more centralized, risk-averse leadership is likely to accelerate controls over rare earths, permanent-magnet inputs, and other defense-critical minerals. Markets should expect near-term uncertainty and tighter export and internal allocation policies.

For Western policymakers and industrial planners, the developments strengthen the case for accelerating ex-China supply chains, redundancy, and national stockpiles to reduce strategic exposure to potential Chinese export restrictions.