FILE – In this photo published on July 18, 2024 by Xinhua News Agency, Chinese President Xi Jinping speaks at the third plenary session of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC), held from July 15 to 18 in Beijing.
Xie Huanchi/Xinhua via AP
hide caption
Xie Huanchi/Xinhua via AP
HONG KONG — China’s political leaders and elites began a four-day meeting Monday to discuss strengthening discipline in the ruling Communist Party, as Chinese President Xi Jinping pushes for greater loyalty and trustworthiness from officials while deepening his years-long campaign against corruption.
This week’s closed-door gathering, known as the fifth plenum of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, comes about a year before Xi wins his fourth five-year term as party leader and the staff of key leadership bodies is due to be renewed.
Xi began the meeting by presenting a work report and talking about a draft policy decision aimed at promoting “complete and rigorous party autonomy,” according to China’s official Xinhua news agency. This policy aims to make executives more disciplined, efficient and less corrupt.
As Xi has consolidated his grip on power, analysts say the plenum will offer him an opportunity to more align what Chinese officials do with what Beijing wants.
“The plenum is an opportunity to ensure that new generations coming up the ranks share Xi’s assessment of the opportunities and risks facing China,” said Ruby Osman, senior policy adviser at the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change in London.
Here’s what you need to know about one of Beijing’s most important political meetings this year.
Xi targets underperforming cadres and corruption
Xi’s anti-corruption campaign has been a defining feature of his rule since he came to power in 2012. Purges of officials – including some seen as his political rivals – have been carried out on a scale that has led critics to claim the campaign was also used to consolidate his power.
But its focus also extended to cracking down on underperforming executives. In recent years, the number of officials punished for “formalism” and “bureaucratism” – misconduct such as dereliction of duty, inaction and reckless acts that seriously hinder development – has increased.
Xi’s policy proposals reflect the party’s emphasis on “self-revolution,” a concept focused on reforming the party through efforts such as rooting out corruption and strengthening ideological commitment, analysts say.
Osman said disciplinary measures are now aimed more at institutional longevity.
“It’s less about purging rival elites and more about building a disciplined system capable of supporting Xi’s policy priorities throughout leadership cycles,” she said.
Record disciplinary campaigns also don’t necessarily mean a rebound in corruption, but rather that Xi has consistently raised the bar on the party’s expectations of those responsible, she added.
Mingda Qiu, senior analyst in Eurasia Group’s China practice, said Beijing had been developing its agenda for months.
“The message is clear: the anti-corruption campaign does not stop. Civil servants are not only tested for loyalty, but also for compliance and action,” he said.
Xi said at a meeting in January that while decisions by the party’s top leaders were generally implemented without problems, inspections and audits found problems such as noncompliance and improper execution, according to an October article in the Qiushi Journal, a central committee publication.
Xi warned of “two-faced people” who might profess political loyalty while privately defying orders and doing what they want.
“During leadership transitions, we must keep our eyes peeled, raise good cadres who are truly loyal and reliable, consistent in their words and deeds, and willing to shoulder responsibilities, and never allow ‘two-faced people’ or those motivated by self-interest to escape,” Xi was quoted as saying.
Xi’s purges of top military officials to be exposed
The number of empty seats in the conference room this week will help observers gauge the extent of Xi’s purges.
Neil Thomas, a senior fellow at the Asia Society Policy Institute, and his colleagues Lobsang Tsering and Shengyu Wang noted that while Xi’s civilian purges are record-breaking, 42 of the 44 military-affiliated officials elected as full members of the central committee in 2022 have also been purged or disappeared.
The central committee began its mandate in 2022 with more than 370 full and alternate members. Thomas and his colleagues estimate that turnout this week could be below 80%, which could be a record for a plenum since the end of former leader Mao Zedong’s regime in 1976.
Attention will also be paid to the new requirements imposed on the remaining civil servants.
Thomas expects tighter scrutiny of public spending and major projects, greater use of technology to uncover corruption and harsher consequences for officials who fail to deliver on Xi’s priorities.
New appointments are possible, although Xi could wait until the Communist Party congress held every five years next year to nominate his picks, said Steve Tsang, director of the SOAS China Institute in London. If he fills any vacancies, it will be with loyalists, he added.
Hints of Xi successor unlikely
The underlying theme of the fifth plenum is that it will be another opportunity for Xi to position himself for an unprecedented fourth term.
Xi, who removed presidential term limits in 2018, is considered by some to be the most powerful Chinese leader since Mao. He should be confirmed as party leader for the next term, in the fall of 2027.
Before that, Thomas said new ideological language strengthening Xi’s authority could emerge at this week’s meeting.
He said the plenum should set the stage for Xi’s fourth term and reinforce expectations of political continuity.
“After Xi purged so many of the people he promoted during the last congress, we should expect stricter scrutiny of officials vying to join his next leadership team,” he said.
Gn headline
