PRESIDENT Xi Jinping and other top members of China’s ruling Communist Party will meet in Beijing tomorrow for a crucial gathering that could hint at the country’s next generation of leaders.
The fifth plenary session of the party’s Central Committee precedes the five-yearly party congress next year, where Xi will likely secure a fourth term.
Why is the meeting important?
Plenums are closed-door gatherings of the party’s Central Committee – the top 300 or so members – where major national and party decisions are debated.
Tomorrow’s meeting is the fifth since this cohort was selected in 2022 and will focus on party governance – implementing measures to make cadres more effective, less corrupt and more loyal.
The plenum comes ahead of an expected leadership reshuffle at the 21st Party Congress in autumn 2027 where Xi, 73, is likely to secure another term as leader.
This time, analysts speculate Xi may bolster his authority by assuming the title “party chairman”, a position Mao Zedong held.
Why Xi worries about party discipline
The meeting, which concludes on Thursday, will debate and adopt a decision on “full and rigorous party self-governance”, with Xi keen to institutionalise discipline measures.
Xi remains frustrated with cadres not implementing his orders, despite a 14-year anti-corruption drive that has snared thousands of officials, including dozens of Central Committee members.
“Xi sees anti-corruption as the key to the party’s legitimacy, so he wants to continuously purify the party’s ranks to make sure the CCP’s rule can survive what other regimes couldn’t,” said Daria Impiombato at the Mercator Institute for China Studies.
Will Xi pick a successor?
Xi is almost certain to stay in charge after the 21st Party Congress, so analysts will instead study who is well placed to take other top jobs on the Politburo and its Standing Committee in 2027.
The Politburo has vacancies after Xi purged three members – the most removed in a single term since 1980 – but positions are rarely filled at a plenum.
Who will run the military?
The anti-corruption campaign has reached deep into the military, toppling five of the seven members of the Central Military Commission (CMC), the party’s top armed forces body.
Of 44 military members appointed to the Central Committee in 2022, only two have not been purged or disappeared, according to the Asia Society Policy Institute.
The plenum could see new members appointed to the CMC, the party could wait until next year’s congress to repopulate it, or Xi might even restructure the Party’s control over its vast military. — AFP
