China’s Communist Party Fifth Plenum Expected to Tighten Discipline

What changed

China’s Communist Party began its fifth plenum on Oct. 26, running through Oct. 29. Instead of centring on the next five-year economic and social plan, the closed-door meeting is expected to focus on ideology, governance, anti-corruption and tighter internal discipline under Xi Jinping.

The meeting may also confirm further removals from the party’s Central Committee and military leadership. About 20 Central Committee members and six alternate members have been placed under investigation since the previous plenum, while three of the 24 current Politburo officials have been ousted.

Why it matters

This is a political housekeeping meeting with unusually high stakes. The Central Committee normally has about 200 voting members and 170 alternates, but the previous plenum had the lowest attendance since the Cultural Revolution. An estimate puts this meeting’s attendance at about 291 people, or 77.4 per cent of the original 376-member cohort.

That gap matters because Xi is tightening control before the 2027 party congress. Formal removals would show how far the purge has reached through the party and military leadership. A discipline document adopted by the plenum would turn that campaign into an even clearer governing rule: loyalty, internal control and “self-reform” ahead of policy experimentation.

The outlook is therefore more political than economic. If further removals are confirmed, the meeting will signal that personnel stability inside China’s top ranks remains unsettled even as Xi prepares the party for its next major leadership gathering.