Cheng Li of the US-based Brookings Institution, in a recent article on China's 19th Party Congress said an extraordinary 90% of the 300 military delegates will be first-time attendees. He estimated that at most, only 17% (seven of 41) of the military representatives with full membership on the 18th Central Committee will retain their seats.This would constitute the largest-ever turnover of military elite in the history of the PRC. Of the 376 members of the 18th Central Committee, 38 (about 10%) have already been purged on corruption charges and other transgressions. In addition, about 200 members (53% of the committee) have either retired or will soon retire and, so will not be considered for the 19th Central Committee. So the turnover rate between the 18th and 19th Central Committees could be as high as 70%, making it the largest turnover since the 9th Party Congress in 1969 at the peak of the Cultural Revolution.