China’s Xi opens Communist Party plenum, aims for firm governance measures
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The Central Committee of China’s Communist Party will convene in the closed-door meeting from Oct 26 to 29 – the fifth since the current cohort was formed in 2022.
PHOTO: AFP
- China’s Communist Party opened a four-day plenum on Oct 26. Xi Jinping wants “full and rigorous party self-governance” and tighter ideological control.
- The meeting will discuss better governing capacity, stronger rules, and anti-corruption measures. Xinhua said implementation must not be “empty rhetoric”.
- Xi’s anti-corruption drive has removed hundreds of officials and generals. The party says this will improve discipline and give “greater predictability” for investors and policymakers.
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BEIJING – China’s Communist Party began a four-day meeting of its highest-ranking members on Oct 26 targeting concrete measures for “full and rigorous party self-governance”, as President Xi Jinping seeks to reinforce his authority and enforce ideological uniformity.
Xi briefed the party’s Central Committee on a draft document that state news agency Xinhua said addressed the challenges the party faced, including growing its governing capacity, as well as guarding against complacency and combating corruption, the President’s signature campaign.
The implementation of major decisions and plans of the Central Committee, the largest of its top decision-making bodies, must not be empty rhetoric, the commentary wrote.
“It is essential to both refine institutional rules and regulations to close loopholes and strengthen safeguards, and ensure their effective implementation,” it said.
The Central Committee will convene in the closed-door meeting from Oct 26 to 29 – the fifth since the current cohort was formed in 2022 and therefore known as the fifth plenum.
Analysts say this could be the last major party gathering before its 2027 leadership reshuffle, when Xi is expected to hold on to the top job for a fourth term.
Rooting out corruption for market predictability
Xi has overseen a vast anti-corruption campaign in recent years which has led to the purge of hundreds of senior officials and top generals, even the President’s one-time allies. While critics argue the purges – particularly those targeting the highest ranks of the armed forces – are destabilising and undermine combat readiness, the party has portrayed the campaign as both necessary and regenerative, saying the military must undergo a phoenix-like rebirth and “bathe in flames and be forged anew”.
The Xinhua commentary propped up the anti-corruption drive as a show of “sustained and systemic” self-governance to “ensure officials dare not, cannot and do not want to commit corruption”.
“For global investors and policymakers, this signals greater predictability,” it said, arguing that China was also creating a more transparent environment for international cooperation as merit and the rule of law prevail over connections and bribery. REUTERS