China's Communist Party opens four-day plenum on discipline as Xi pushes loyalty

The plenum opens in Beijing

Chinese state media reported that the fifth plenum of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China opened on Monday, 26 October, in Beijing. Over four days, the leadership under Xi Jinping will discuss tighter party discipline and a stronger campaign against corruption. The session is closed to the press, and roughly 300 members and alternates are attending. According to Xinhua, Xi presented a draft resolution and gave a work report on behalf of the Politburo. The draft's detailed content has not been published, and the closed-door meeting is set to run until Thursday, 29 October.

Discipline and the anticorruption drive

The draft deals with what Chinese leaders call "full and rigorous party self-governance", a term that covers discipline, supervision and the fight against corruption. Xi has led a 14-year anticorruption campaign that has purged thousands of officials, dozens of them members of the Central Committee. In July the Politburo demanded higher standards and more concrete measures to fix problems inside the party, acknowledging that changes at home and abroad had created new challenges for control. In a January speech, published this October in the party journal Qiushi, Xi complained that some directives are not applied or are applied incorrectly. He also accused officials who profess loyalty of acting their own way in practice.

In October the party opened an investigation into Huang Qifan, a former mayor of Chongqing who had stayed prominent after leaving office. Investigations of this kind almost always end with the official's imprisonment. Earlier, in September, generals Zhang Youxia and Liu Zhenli were expelled over corruption and other violations, and those expulsions still await ratification.

Xi's fourth term and succession

The plenum comes roughly a year before Xi is widely expected to secure a fourth five-year term as party leader. Xi, 73, is likely preparing for that step in 2027 and has no obvious successor. The next party congress, due in late 2027, will name a new group of younger officials to serve under him. The Central Committee had 376 members when it was formed at the 2022 congress, but attendance fell to 315 at the committee meeting in 2025, and this week's attendance could fall to around 300 or fewer. Neil Thomas, a senior fellow on Chinese politics at the Asia Society Policy Institute, has framed Xi's priorities this way:

“What does Xi want his legacy to be? I think first and foremost, it is a stronger Communist Party, perhaps even more than a stronger China.”

2022 formation376

2025 meeting attendance315

2022 formation

376 members

2025 meeting attendance

315 members

Data from the article text

Analysts' view of the plenum

Ruby Osman, a senior policy adviser at London's Tony Blair Institute for Global Change, told The Associated Press that the meeting gives Xi another chance to align officials with his view of the country's situation.

“The plenum is a chance to ensure the new generations rising through the ranks share Xi's assessment of the opportunities and risks China faces.”

Previous plenums have helped Xi cement his authority, and this one is being watched for clues to the country's direction and future leadership. Xi says cadres are still not implementing his orders, and the plenum comes as he pushes for greater loyalty from officials. The push is meant to make cadres more disciplined, effective and less corrupt, through more supervision and rules.