What’s new: Wang Xiaojun, former president of the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology (CALT), has been expelled from the country’s top political advisory body, state media reported. He is the latest in a string of arms and aerospace executives ousted since December.
The Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) announced the decision during a leadership meeting on Monday, state-run Xinhua News Agency reported. It did not say why Wang had his membership of the key Communist Party organ revoked.
Wang’s removal follows the ouster of three arms and aerospace executives from the CPPCC and nine senior military officers from the National People’s Congress in December.
The background: Wang, 54, was president of CALT as recently as April 2023, when he attended a forum at China’s Beihang University. He previously served as the chief commander of the launch of the first Long March-7 space rocket and won an outstanding contributor award in China’s manned space program.
CALT, founded in 1957, is the “birthplace of China’s aerospace industry” and the country’s largest missile weapon and launch vehicle development, testing and production base, according to its website. Wang has a doctoral degree in missile design from CALT.
Among the three executives ousted in December, Wu Yansheng, chairman and party chief of China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp., also previously studied and worked at CALT.
Contact reporter Kelly Wang (jingzhewang@caixin.com) and editor Jonathan Breen (jonathanbreen@caixin.com)
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