The news came in a communique issued at the end of the Communist Party's four-day Central Committee plenum, according to state news agency Xinhua.

Zhang, 67, was promoted to vice chairman of the powerful Central Military Commission (CMC), Xinhua said.

He serves with another more senior vice chair, Zhang Youxia, a general in the People's Liberation Army (PLA), who is no relation.

Both generals rank below Chinese President Xi Jinping, who has held the CMC chairmanship since 2012.

Zhang Shengmin, a veteran military man from northern Shaanxi province, replaces He Weidong, who was among nine individuals to be expelled from the army for having "seriously violated" discipline.

The purge, announced by Beijing's defence ministry last week, was the latest push in a vast drive to root out graft at all levels of the party and state since Xi came to power over a decade ago.

Zhang Shengmin is also deputy secretary in the Party's Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, and the secretary of the CMC's own version, according to Xinhua.

As a general in Beijing's Rocket Force, he helps lead the military unit that oversees China's nuclear and missile arsenal.

Officials also reviewed the investigations into the nine expelled officials including Miao Hua, the former head of the military's political work department.

Their expulsions from the Party were confirmed, Xinhua said.