Lowest turnout since 1976 marks Xi's new push for party purity

China's Communist Party leadership began a four-day closed-door session on Monday to enforce stricter internal discipline. The meeting brings together roughly 300 Central Committee members to address conduct and loyalty within the ruling body. This gathering marks the fifth plenum of the current leadership cycle.

The timing places the session approximately one year before President Xi Jinping is expected to secure a fourth five-year term. Personnel shifts in key leadership bodies are anticipated in the near future. Analysts view this plenum as a mechanism to align the next generation of officials with Beijing's strategic priorities. Ruby Osman, a senior policy adviser at the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change, described the session as an opportunity to ensure rising leaders share Xi's assessment of China's risks and opportunities.

Xi has led an anticorruption campaign for 14 years, resulting in the removal of thousands of officials. Dozens of committee members have been purged during this period. Despite these efforts, Xi expressed frustration in a January speech published by state media this week. He criticized officials who appear compliant but inwardly resist directives. He labeled such cadres as two-faced, politically opportunistic, and driven by individualism.

Xinhua reported that the committee will review a draft policy decision on full and rigorous party self-governance. The goal is to create a more effective and less corrupt cadre system. Neil Thomas, a senior fellow at the Asia Society Policy Institute, predicts the session will call for tighter scrutiny of public spending. He also expects proposals to use technology for corruption detection and impose harsher penalties for underperformance.

The anticorruption drive has significantly reduced the size of the Central Committee. Eight seats are currently vacant, and 15 members face investigation with potential replacement. This configuration suggests the lowest turnout since the death of Mao Zedong in 1976. The purge has extended to the military, where five of seven Central Military Commission members were removed.

The plenum may announce new appointments to the military commission. Xi could also restructure the party's oversight of the armed forces. These discussions occur while China's economy faces weak domestic spending and a prolonged property sector crisis. Relations with the United States remain turbulent, adding pressure on the leadership team.