China’s Communist Party kicks off fourth plenum amid tightened security in Beijing

Xi Jinping delivers work report during first day of key conclave that will determine China’s development over the next five years

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Security personnel stand guard at the entrance to the Jingxi Hotel in Beijing where the Communist Party’s Central Committee is holding its fourth plenum. Photo: AP

Published: 3:30pm, 20 Oct 2025Updated: 6:55pm, 20 Oct 2025

China’s ruling Communist Party kicked off a key four-day conclave on Monday that will determine the country’s development over the next five years.

The fourth plenum of the party’s Central Committee began on Monday morning, according to state news agency Xinhua.

Party General Secretary Xi Jinping, who is also the nation’s president, delivered a work report to the meeting and outlined the party’s proposals for the next five-year plan, which will be submitted for deliberation, a brief report said on Monday morning.

The meeting, which will conclude on Thursday, is being attended by over 350 full and alternate members of the Central Committee, most of whom are provincial-level officials or executives of state-owned enterprises. The core agenda centres around formulating the blueprint for China’s next five-year plan amid intensifying competition with the United States.

Security in Beijing has been significantly tightened. On Monday morning, more traffic police officers than usual were on duty along the road leading to the Jingxi Hotel in west Beijing, a venue for previous Central Committee plenary sessions.

The South China Morning Post observed that a section of the road near the hotel entrance had been cordoned off and that multiple police vehicles had been stationed around the hotel.

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