CPC fifth plenum: What to expect at China’s top political conclave

BEIJING – China’s ruling Communist Party is holding its most important meeting of the year between Oct 26 and 29.Known as the fifth plenum, the closed-door gathering of hundreds of top officials is expected to focus on strengthening the party’s ideology and governance, including its anti-corruption campaign, rather than the economic policies that would typically dominate a fifth plenum.The meeting could also provide clarity around which officials have been purged from the Central Committee and China’s military leadership in recent years, while reshaping the party’s senior ranks ahead of the party congress in 2027.What is the fifth plenum?A plenum is a meeting attended by the Communist Party of China’s (CPC) entire Central Committee, which ordinarily includes about 200 full members with voting rights and about 170 alternate members without them.Members tend to hold key posts not only within the party but across the provincial, municipal and central governments, as well as in the military and state-owned enterprises. Officials from the party’s anti-corruption agency and other departments, as well as academic representatives and delegates to the national party congress, may also be invited.There are normally seven plenums between party congresses, which are held every five years, with each meeting traditionally serving a particular purpose. The fifth plenum typically sets priorities for the next five-year economic and social development plan.But delays to earlier meetings mean the fifth plenum is taking place later than usual in the cycle. As a result, it is likely to focus more heavily on ideological and social policy, topics traditionally reserved for the sixth plenum, according to Neil Thomas, a senior fellow for Chinese politics at the Asia Society Policy Institute. Chinese President Xi Jinping could also skip a plenum ahead of the party congress in 2027. If he does, it would be the first time in more than 30 years that the seven-plenum tradition has been broken, Thomas added.What’s on the agenda?Officials are expected to deliberate and then adopt a party document enforcing stronger discipline, greater anti-corruption efforts and tighter internal controls – key priorities under Xi. Major policies and proposals are typically worked out in advance by the Politburo, a smaller group of senior officials led by Xi, before being formally ratified by the larger Central Committee.The plenum is also expected to formally confirm the removal of recently purged Central Committee members.The fourth plenum in 2025 recorded the lowest attendance since the Cultural Revolution, largely reflecting a wave of purges, and Xi has ousted more senior officials since then.About 20 Central Committee members and another six alternate members have officially been placed under investigation over that period, according to a Bloomberg News tally. Three of the 24 officials appointed to the current Politburo have also been ousted, and further removals are expected to be confirmed. An estimate by the Asia Society Policy Institute, a United States-based think tank, puts attendance at this plenum at about 291 members – or 77.4% of the original cohort with 376 members – following the purges.Xi could also use the meeting to announce a rebuild of the Central Military Commission. Following an unprecedented purge that began in 2023, only two of the seven members elected to the military leadership body in 2022 remain: Xi and his deputy, Zhang Shengmin. Why is Xi so focused on party governance right now?Xi has spent more than a decade consolidating his authority over the CPC and centralising decision-making in Beijing. In his third term, his focus has increasingly turned to ensuring officials are loyal and the vast party apparatus beneath him is actually carrying out Beijing’s instructions.For Xi, the ruling party’s ability to identify and address its own problems is crucial to preventing corruption and complacency from eroding its authority.Xi’s concept of “self-reform” draws on a famous 1945 discussion between prominent educator Huang Yanpei and Mao Zedong about how a government could avoid the historical cycle of rising to power, becoming complacent and corrupt, and eventually collapsing. Xi has argued that reforming the party from within offers a way to avoid that cycle.The timing also matters. China is now about a year away from the next CPC congress, where a new leadership line-up will be unveiled.Xi is expected to extend his rule, so tightening discipline and reshaping the party’s senior ranks will be important as he prepares for the transition. Bloomberg