China’s ruling party to hold plenum on five-year plan in October
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The fourth plenum is usually used to discuss ideological issues including state governance and party building.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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BEIJING – China’s ruling Communist Party will hold its next key conclave in October, according to the official Xinhua News Agency, meeting to chart the nation’s development for the next five years as it contends with risks to the economy at home and abroad.
The 24-member Politburo announced the month for the gathering known as the fourth plenum after wrapping a meeting on July 30, according to the official Xinhua News Agency.
The decision-making body didn’t reveal specific dates for the huddle of some 400 Central Committee members.
The meeting will be closely watched by investors as it will review proposals for China’s 15th five-year plan, which covers the period from 2026 to 2031, according to Xinhua.
Senior officials within the Trump administration will also be paying attention.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said he’d urged Chinese officials during trade talks in Stockholm to make rebalancing their economy a pillar of Beijing’s blueprint for its next half-decade.
“I encouraged them to work on rebalancing the economy towards more of a consumer economy, away from a manufacturing economy,” he told CNBC after two days of negotiations. “If they have decided that’s in their five-year plan, to make that public.”
State media reports have suggested Chinese President Xi Jinping is personally involved in drafting the plan, including by convening a seminar in Shanghai with some provincial governors in April.
Bloomberg News has reported that the programme will include a future iteration of Mr Xi’s “Made in China 2025” campaign to focus on high-end technological goods.
The Politburo stressed the challenges ahead for the world’s No. 2 economy, as it battles a trade war with President Donald Trump that earlier in 2025 saw US tariffs on China soar to 145 per cent
“Uncertain and unpredictable factors are increasing,” members of the Politburo meeting warned, adding that China should respond to changes by “seizing strategic initiative” in international competition.
The Chinese economy has held up surprisingly well in the face of US tariffs, thanks to resilient exports and government support for consumer spending and investment.
But with a slowdown likely in the months ahead and the ongoing threat of global trade tariffs, Beijing has faced calls to shift its growth model more toward domestic consumption.
The Communist Party usually gathers seven times during the five-year cycle following its major congress.
The fourth plenum is usually used to discuss ideological issues including state governance and party building, whereas the fifth plenum over the past few decades has been focusing on the five-year plans.
A delayed third plenum in 2024 might be among the reasons the sequence is disrupted this time.
The gathering is also likely to address some personnel issues, as an ongoing anti-corruption campaign in both the military and civilian government has seen dozens of senior cadres being purged.
At least three ministers were ousted from the current Cabinet, formed in March 2023.
Admiral Miao Hua, a former member of Central Military Commission, was removed from the top body
