China's Communist Party Opens a Four-Day Plenum Aimed at Tightening Discipline

About 300 members of China's Communist Party Central Committee began a four-day closed-door meeting in Beijing on Monday. State media said the session would pave the way for a “tightening of discipline” in the ruling party, as President Xi Jinping pushes officials for greater loyalty, Al Jazeera and the BBC reported.

The gathering, known as the fifth plenum, is watched for signals about the country's direction and future leadership. It takes place roughly a year before Xi is widely expected to win a fourth five-year term as party leader.

The numbers behind the plenum

• 300 members: Roughly this many Central Committee members are attending, according to both Al Jazeera and the BBC.
• Four days: The session started Monday and is due to wrap up on Thursday, the BBC said. Even the venue has not been announced; earlier plenums were held at Beijing's Jingxi Hotel.
• 14 years: This is the length of Xi's anticorruption campaign, which Al Jazeera said has purged thousands of officials, including dozens of committee members.
• Eight vacant seats, 15 members under investigation: Al Jazeera said these gaps are expected to produce the lowest turnout at a plenum since Mao Zedong died in 1976.
• Five of seven: This many members of the Central Military Commission, the party's top armed forces body, have been toppled by the drive, according to Al Jazeera. The BBC said the commission is down to two people, Xi and one other general.
• Two of 44: The Asia Society Policy Institute estimated, as cited by the BBC, that only two of the 44 military members appointed to the Central Committee in 2022 have not been taken down.

What is on the agenda

Xinhua, China's official news agency, reported that the committee will discuss a draft decision on advancing full and rigorous party self-governance. The BBC said a September readout from the 21-member Politburo described the same item and that it is being read as a way to secure obedience and effectiveness from distant party officials. The aim, according to Al Jazeera, is to make cadres more disciplined, effective and less corrupt.

Analysts quoted by Al Jazeera said Xi remains frustrated with officials he says are not carrying out his orders. In a January speech published by state media ahead of the plenum, he criticized two-faced officials who appear to comply but resist inwardly. Neil Thomas of the Asia Society Policy Institute said he expects calls for closer scrutiny of public spending and major projects, more use of technology to uncover corruption and tougher consequences for officials who fall short of Xi's priorities.

Ruby Osman of the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change told The Associated Press the meeting is a chance to make sure younger officials rising through the ranks share Xi's view of the opportunities and risks China faces.

Why the military is in focus

With so many seats on the Central Military Commission empty, Al Jazeera said the plenum could appoint new members to the body, and Xi might even restructure the party's control over the military. The BBC called the meeting an opportunity for him to name new officers to the commission.

The BBC added that corruption allegations, including so-called moral corruption, have removed large numbers of senior figures. Experts see that wording as a way to deal with perceived disloyalty to Xi, because disloyalty to the party can be framed as a breach of morality. The BBC said the scale of the purges means delegates are likely to be nervous as they look at the empty chairs.

What it means beyond Beijing

Plenums are meant to signal the leadership's priorities, and past sessions have been used to declare Xi the core of the party and to abolish term limits. The BBC said the next Party Congress will almost certainly reappoint him. For outside observers, the outcome of this session offers clues to who will hold key positions and how closely the party will supervise its own members.

The talks come as China's economy, the world's second largest, struggles with sluggish domestic spending and a long crisis in the property sector, Al Jazeera reported. The outlet also pointed to turbulent political and economic ties with the United States as a weight on leaders. It noted that China's economy grew 4.5 percent in the third quarter, beating forecasts.

What happens next

The BBC said plenums are highly secretive, but a summary of decisions and a more detailed document will be made public after the meeting ends.

Around Prague, based on reporting by Al Jazeera, BBC News