Chinese Communist Party Leaders Open Closed-Door Meeting in Beijing

China's President Xi Jinping opened a key meeting of Communist Party elites in Beijing on Monday, October 26, 2026. Roughly 300 members of the ruling Communist Party's Central Committee are attending the meeting, known as the fifth plenum, to tighten discipline within their ranks. State media reported that Mr. Xi presented a draft decision aimed at strengthening party self-governance, reducing corruption, and making officials more loyal and effective.

Attendance And Purges

This year's plenum is expected to have the lowest turnout since former leader Mao Zedong's death in 1976 due to an expansive anti-corruption campaign led by Mr. Xi. Eight of the Central Committee's seats are vacant, and another 15 members are under investigation. The purge has also targeted the military, removing five of the seven members of the Central Military Commission. Of 44 military members appointed to the Central Committee in 2022, only two remain unpurged or have not disappeared, according to the Asia Society Policy Institute.

Economic Context

These closed-door talks take place at an unsteady time for the world's second-largest economy. China faces sluggish domestic spending, a prolonged crisis in the property sector, and turbulent political and economic ties with the United States. Few details from the gathering will be made public until it concludes under tight security on Thursday, October 29, 2026.

Context

Plenums of the Chinese Communist Party's Central Committee serve as important closed-door sessions where top leaders discuss governance, policy directions, and leadership alignments ahead of major party congresses. President Xi Jinping has used his long-running anti-corruption campaign to consolidate political and military control since taking power.