China’s Communist Party has opened its fifth plenum in Beijing, a four-day closed-door session focused on party discipline and governance ahead of next year’s pivotal party congress. Roughly 300 members of the party’s Central Committee are attending the meeting, which runs from October 26 to 29 under tight security. President Xi Jinping opened the session on Monday, presenting a draft decision on strengthening “full and rigorous party self-governance,” according to state news agency Xinhua.
Discipline instead of the economy
Fifth plenums usually discuss the next five-year economic plan, but the fourth plenum in October 2025 already adopted recommendations for the 15th Five-Year Plan covering 2026 to 2030. With the economic framework set, this session turns to the party itself: discipline, supervision of cadres, scrutiny of spending, and institutionalising an anti-corruption drive now in its 14th year. The meeting comes as the anti-corruption campaign has thinned the party’s own ranks. Eight Central Committee seats lie vacant and another 15 members are under investigation and at risk of replacement, according to AFP reporting carried by CNA — which is why this year’s plenum is expected to have the lowest turnout since Mao Zedong died in 1976.
Eyes on 2027
The plenum is a critical barometer for China’s political direction leading into the 2027 Party Congress, where Xi, 73, is almost certain to seek a historic fourth term and oversee a leadership reshuffle. Previous plenums have been key moments for Xi to cement his authority. Few details from the closed-door gathering will be made known until it concludes on Thursday, when a Xinhua communique is expected to announce the decision in broad party language. What is already clear is the theme: a leader frustrated with cadres he deems are not implementing his orders, tightening the screws on the organisation that runs the world’s second-largest economy.
