President Xi Jinping opens plenum of the Communist Party of China Central Committee — The Hindu

Chinese President Xi Jinping on October 26 opened the fifth plenum of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China in Beijing. Around 300 members of the ruling party’s Central Committee are taking part in the closed meeting, which will last until October 29, The Hindu reports.

According to Chinese state media, the plenum’s participants are to focus on strengthening discipline within party ranks, combating corruption, and improving the efficiency and loyalty of personnel. Xi Jinping presented a draft resolution by the Central Committee on strategic plans to strengthen comprehensive and strict intra-party governance.

Composition of the Central Committee

Details of the meeting, which is being held under heightened security measures, are to be released after it concludes. According to AFP, the current plenum may be the smallest since Mao Zedong’s death in 1976. Eight seats on the Central Committee remain vacant, while another 15 of its members are under investigation and may be replaced.

Xi Jinping has led an anti-corruption campaign for 14 years, resulting in the removal of thousands of officials, including dozens of Central Committee members. On the eve of the plenum, state media published material based on a January speech by the Chinese leader, in which he criticized officials who outwardly agree with central government directives but resist internally, display individualism, and engage in political opportunism.

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Possible changes in military leadership

The anti-corruption campaign has also affected the military leadership: five of the seven members of the Central Military Commission, the main party body overseeing the armed forces, have been removed. According to the Asia Society Policy Institute, of the 44 military officials appointed to the Central Committee in 2022, only two have not been removed or disappeared from public view.

The plenum may lead to the appointment of new members of the Central Military Commission. At the same time, the party may postpone its renewal until next year’s congress or revise the system of party control over the military. Personnel changes are expected at this congress, and Xi Jinping, according to AFP, will almost certainly secure a historic fourth term.

The meeting is taking place amid weak domestic consumption in China, a prolonged crisis in the real estate sector, and unstable political and economic relations with the United States. Chinese authorities are expected to release the results of the plenum after it ends on October 29.