China's Plenum Meets as Xi Jinping Reshapes Party Discipline and Military Command

Senior Chinese officials convened in Beijing on Monday for a closed-door meeting that will run through Thursday, with state media reporting the session will address tighter discipline among Communist Party members. Around 300 members of the Central Committee are attending the gathering, known as the Fifth Plenum. The location of the meeting has not been announced, though past plenums were held at Beijing's Jingxi Hotel.

Plenums are closed-door meetings of the Central Committee that occur at least once a year, with seven held during each five-year term of the committee. Their decisions are watched from abroad because they are intended to indicate where leadership priorities are heading. A summary of decisions and a fuller document will be issued after the meeting concludes.

The timing matters because the next Party Congress falls one year from now, when a new set of priorities is set and a new Central Committee is appointed. The Congress is expected to reappoint Xi Jinping after term limits were removed. Earlier plenum sessions declared Xi the core of the Party, removed term limits, and placed his political philosophy alongside Chairman Mao's.

A Politburo readout from September said the session would adopt a decision on strict Party governance, an approach read as a way to ensure obedience from officials working at a distance from Beijing. The meeting also gives Xi a chance to set strategy before the Congress and align views among delegates.

Recent purges have left seats empty. The Asia Society Policy Institute estimated that of 44 military members appointed to the Central Committee in 2022, only two have not been removed. The seven-member Central Military Commission, which oversees the armed forces, now has two members: Xi and one other general. The plenum is an opportunity to appoint new officers to that body. A summary of the meeting's decisions is expected after it closes on Thursday.

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