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The Fifth Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China concluded on Thursday (October 29) in Beijing. According to the official communique, a total of 162 Central Committee members and 117 alternate Central Committee members attended, a total of 279 people, 97 fewer than the 376 Central Committee members and alternate Central Committee members elected at the 20th National Congress in 2022, a decrease of approximately 25.8%.
The plenary session adopted the "Decision of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on Several Major Issues on Persistently Promoting Comprehensive and Strict Governance of the Party". It also confirmed the previous sanctions of expulsion from the Party by the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Political Bureau of 33 Central Committee members and alternate Central Committee members. It also confirmed that Li Yunze was revoked from his party positions. Zhang Shengmin, Vice Chairman of the Central Military Commission, was co-opted as a member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee.
On Friday morning, Zhang Fuhai, deputy secretary of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection of the Communist Party of China and deputy director of the National Supervisory Commission, said at a press conference that since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, disciplinary inspection and supervision agencies across the country have filed a total of 8.105 million cases and punished 7.922 million people, including 963 central management cadres. During the same period, 1.644 million cases of "four styles" were investigated and dealt with, and 2.257 million cases were criticized, educated and dealt with. The "four winds" refer to formalism, bureaucracy, hedonism and luxury.
It is worth noting that the communique elaborates on "Xi Jinping Thought on Party Building" in a dedicated paragraph, positioning it as an important part of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era. With the 21st National Congress of the Communist Party of China scheduled to be held in the second half of 2027, many analysts believe that the plenary session shows that Xi Jinping's leadership position has been further consolidated, and that anti-corruption and intra-party discipline pressure will exist for a long time.
The personnel purge behind the "empty chairs"
Although the official communiqué only announced the number of attendees and did not specify the absentees and reasons one by one, based on the quota at the beginning of the establishment of the current Central Committee, the number of attendees at this plenary session dropped by more than a quarter. This means that some Central Committee members and alternate Central Committee members elected by the 20th National Congress have been unable to appear at the venue due to punishment, investigation or other reasons.
Those confirmed to be expelled from the party include Liu Jianchao, 62, former director of the International Department of the CPC Central Committee and Zhong Shaojun, former director of the General Office of the Central Military Commission. Liu Jianchao is a senior diplomat who has served as ambassador to the Philippines, ambassador to Indonesia and assistant minister of foreign affairs. He was once regarded as a potential candidate for foreign minister. Zhong Shaojun has worked beside Xi Jinping for a long time and is regarded as Xi Jinping's "big secret in the military."
It should be pointed out that not all of these 33 people were punished for the first time during this plenary session, but the plenary session confirmed the previous decision of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee. Many people have disappeared from public view for a long time before the punishment was officially announced.
Zhuang Jiaying, associate professor at the Department of Political Science at the National University of Singapore, told BBC Chinese that although the plenary meeting announced a number of sanctions and personnel arrangements, compared with past central meetings, this meeting seemed "quite quiet."
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"This in itself is a signal." Zhuang Jiaying said, "Xi Jinping's power is relatively consolidated, and there are not many objections to various personnel arrangements, whether public or private. In the short term, this situation is unlikely to change."
High-pressure anti-corruption has become a long-term governance method
Anti-corruption is the most sustained political project since Xi Jinping came to power. The communique of the Fifth Plenary Session of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China called for "maintaining a high-pressure posture in punishing corruption", "deeply investigating new types of corruption and hidden corruption", and making the integrated promotion of those who dare not, cannot, and do not want to corrupt an important strategy for comprehensively and strictly governing the party.
Zhuang Jiaying believes that after more than ten years of high-pressure anti-corruption, senior officials have been dismissed one after another, which raises at least two questions: Does corruption stem from deep-rooted structural factors within the system? Will a long-term crackdown be enough to change officials' behavior?
American scholar Andrew Wedeman previously described to BBC Chinese that the CCP’s anti-corruption campaign is more like a “long-term war of attrition rather than a blitzkrieg.” In his view, the core of this movement is not simply to pursue corruption, but to solve the execution problem of the huge bureaucracy and make officials more obedient and effectively implement the central will.
Neil Thomas, a China politics researcher at the Asia Society Policy Institute, said in an email response to BBC Chinese that the continued advancement of the anti-corruption campaign reflects Xi Jinping's belief that the problem facing China is not the policy itself, but the failure of officials to effectively implement the policy.
"This plenum further demonstrates that Xi Jinping's anti-corruption campaign has no end," Niu Ben said. "Continued disciplinary pressure should not be just a phased campaign, but must become a permanent part of the CCP's operating methods."
"The tension between doing and not doing"
Beijing is trying to balance strict party governance with administrative efficiency. Huang Jianfa, deputy director of the Central Organization Department in charge of daily work, said at a press conference on Friday that strict governance of the party does not mean "controlling" cadres, but rather motivating them to take on their responsibilities.
However, he also emphasized that we must vigorously select and appoint cadres who are loyal to the party, responsible, and honest. At the same time, we must not use people who are "afraid of difficulties, avoid work, lazy and inactive, and have a floating style", and we must eliminate those who are disloyal to the party, act in secret, and abuse power for personal gain.
Xinhua News Agency disclosed on October 30 that Xi Jinping said at a symposium of non-party persons held on August 21: "We must adhere to the party spirit, party style and party discipline, improve work style, eliminate discipline, and fight corruption, and organically combine the management of people, management, and power management."
Zhuang Jiaying believes that the document of the Fifth Plenary Session of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on the one hand requires officials to take active actions and promote development, but on the other hand requires them to strictly observe discipline and not touch political red lines, which has put grassroots and local officials into an increasingly obvious dilemma.
"For many officials, there's a lot of tension between doing and not doing," he said.
Zhuang Jiaying also pointed out that in recent years, there has been a trend of blurring the standards and boundaries of disciplinary sanctions within the party. Some officials were punished for playing video games during work hours, while others were accused of "running a clique" or "running a gang" because of their close relationship with specific colleagues. This situation expands the scope for interpretation of discipline and gives the central government greater discretion in personnel matters.
He believes that the further concentration of power, coupled with the increased concerns of officials at the implementation level, may form a power vacuum within the system in the long run. In the absence of effective institutional arrangements, factional competition and personal power struggles may not be fully restrained.
"The collective leadership emphasized during the period from Deng Xiaoping to Hu Jintao is essentially an arrangement to reduce excessive concentration of power." Zhuang Jiaying said, "Even if this arrangement still has limitations, regular leadership changes and a relatively decentralized power structure have, at least to a certain extent, reduced the risk of a power vacuum."
"Xi Jinping Thought on Party Building" and the Future Leadership Pattern
This is not the first time that "Xi Jinping Thought on Party Building" has appeared. The National Party Building Work Symposium held on June 15 this year has made arrangements for the study and implementation of this idea, and summarized its main content as "Fourteen Persistences." The Fifth Plenary Session of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China included it in the communique of the plenary session for the first time, clearly requiring "in-depth study and implementation."
The communique described this idea as answering the major question of "what kind of Marxist party to build a long-term ruling Marxist party and how to build a long-term ruling Marxist party" in the new era. It is an important part of Xi Jinping's Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era.
Zhuang Jiaying believes that the communiqué not only repeatedly emphasizes Xi Jinping’s Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, but also further highlights the status of “Xi Jinping’s Thought on Party Building,” which seems to have the effect of elevating Xi Jinping’s political status to a level similar to that of Mao Zedong.
Niu Ben pointed out that this formulation integrates Xi Jinping’s requirements for loyalty, discipline and policy execution under the same ideological framework. The core message is clear: the future of the CCP is described as dependent on Xi Jinping's continued leadership.
The 21st National Congress of the Communist Party of China is scheduled to be held in the second half of 2027. At that time, a new Central Committee will be elected, and the General Secretary will be elected by the plenary session of the Central Committee. Many analysts expect Xi Jinping to seek re-election for a fourth term as general secretary.
The prospect also brings the issue of succession into sharper focus. Weidmann previously pointed out that the officials Xi Jinping is purging now are often those he personally promoted during his tenure. Even if he continues to replace corrupt officials and appoint new cadres, he may still be selecting people from a "polluted pool."
Niu Ben believes that Xi Jinping has repeatedly been disappointed with the officials he promoted, which may deepen his hesitation in naming a successor. As a result, China's future leadership transition will become even more uncertain.
Zhuang Jiaying said: "Xi Jinping is also a human being and will grow old. When his energy is not as good as before, how the CCP will deal with the vacuum that may be formed after the high concentration of power, and the resulting political challenges, will become a more serious problem."
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