The Fifth Plenum Before a New ‘New Era’
| AUTHOR | Anushka Saxena |
| DATE | October 26, 2026 |
| CATEGORIES | China Geostrategy People's Liberation Army |
On October 26, 2026, the Communist Party of China (CPC)’s 20th Central Committee gathered in Beijing for its Fifth Plenum. Xi Jinping delivered the Politburo’s work report and explained a draft “Decision on Persistently Advancing Full and Rigorous Party Self-Governance.” These are the first few pronouncements of day 1 - the final communiqué of October 29 will be more instructive in what the Party is planning for a rather momentous year in domestic politics.
The fifth plenum is an important event on the CPC’s calendars. In 2016, it gave Xi the title of “core” of the party, and in 2021, it produced a historical resolution that placed him alongside Mao Zedong and Deng Xiaoping. As the last 5th plenum ahead of the 21st Party Congress in 2027, the draft ‘Decision’ promises to make discipline a permanent part of the ideological and organisational glue of the party. It is not new, but its scale is unfounded.
Zhang Youxia, once vice-Chairman of the PLA’s highest decision-making body – the Central Military Commission (CMC) – and Liu Zhenli, its former Joint Staff chief, were expelled on September 21 for “forming cliques” (搞团团伙伙) and being “disloyal and dishonest to the Party” (对党不忠诚不老实). Ma Xingrui, a Politburo member who rose through China’s aerospace industry, was expelled in July for family corruption and referred for prosecution. Four days before the plenum, Beijing vice mayor Xia Linmao was placed under investigation. The Politburo now stands at 21 of 25, while turnout at the last plenum was the lowest of the post-Mao era, and it is expected to further reduce.
The CMC, of course, remains at just two members – Xi and Vice Chairman Zhang Shengmin. This plenum could serve a chance to, say, promote current CMC Discipline Inspection Commission Director Zhang Shuguang to second Vice Chairman. A partial fill is possible.
Two signals are worth watching. The first is whether the seven alternate members passed over for full Central Committee seats in October 2025 – four of them generals1 – are passed over again. Seats are filled in order of congress votes, so a repeat skip is close to confirmation of a purge. The second is whether the language used for Zhang Youxia hardens from “forming cliques” to “political ambition,” or calls for eradicating his “pernicious influence” (流毒影响), phrasing that preceded years of follow-on purges after Guo Boxiong and Xu Caihou. Either would suggest the purge is far from over.
Footnotes
The generals are Wang Liyan, deputy commander of the Rocket Force; Wang Kangping, commander of the Joint Logistics Support Force; Fang Yongxiang, director of the CMC General Office, effectively Xi’s own military secretariat; and Shi Zhenglu, commander of the Northern Theatre’s ground forces.↩︎