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William Zheng

The Communist Party has set a date for its most important political gathering this autumn, the news coming shortly before Beijing confirmed Chinese President Xi Jinping’s state visit to the US.
The fifth plenary session of the party’s 20th Central Committee will be held from October 26 to October 29, according to official news agency Xinhua on Monday.
The meeting of political elites is likely to be the most important gathering ahead of next autumn’s national party congress, a five-yearly event marked by massive top-level reshuffles.
The decision was made during Monday’s meeting of the 21-member Politburo, which is chaired by Xi.
In a departure from its typical schedule, the Politburo convened the meeting a week early – just two days before Xi’s high-stakes trip to the United States.
The expedited timing allows Xi to consolidate party affairs before arriving in Washington for a reciprocal summit with President Donald Trump, who visited Beijing in May.
Soon after the release of the Politburo meeting details, Beijing’s foreign ministry confirmed Xi would make a state visit to the United States from Wednesday to Friday.
The visit is expected to include a tarmac reception by Trump at Joint Base Andrews and a White House state dinner. Xi will be accompanied by a delegation of top Chinese executives from the tech, electric vehicle and aerospace industries to address agenda items such as artificial intelligence (AI) safety, rare earths and trade ties.


At the centre of Monday’s Politburo meeting was the review and approval of a draft policy decision by the Central Committee regarding “strengthening full and rigorous party self-governance with perseverance”, Xinhua said.
Regional officials, central party organs and non-party organisations have already been consulted about the document, which will be submitted to the Central Committee for final deliberation and approval during next month’s plenum, according to the news agency.
The Politburo urged the party to focus on enhancing its “long-term governance capacity, maintaining its advanced nature and purity, and preserving its close bond with the people”. It also called on the party to maintain a strict stance on self-governance, Xinhua reported.
“We must fully promote the enthusiasm, initiative and creativity of the entire party, and continuously realise the party’s self-purification, self-perfection, self-renewal and self-progression,” it said.
It said stronger self-governance would ensure the party always remained a “vigorous Marxist governing party that stands at the forefront of the times, wins the wholehearted support of the people, withstands the tests of all kinds of storms and waves and serves as the strong core of leadership” of China’s development.
When Xi became the party’s top leader in late 2012, he inherited an organisation severely weakened by systemic corruption, disciplinary lapses, official inertia and ideological drift – vulnerabilities that were seen as an existential threat to the party’s rule.
Xi’s response was an unprecedented anti-corruption campaign that has snared millions of cadres, from low-level “flies” to “tigers”, or top senior officials and military generals. As the campaign matured, Beijing has had to shift from emergency clean-ups towards setting up a more permanent disciplinary system.
“Xi Jinping Thought on Party Building” – a new branch of the Chinese leader’s political thought – has emerged directly out of this transition.
According to party documents, at the centre of this doctrine is the concept of the party’s “self-revolution” – the idea that it can continuously cleanse, reform and update itself from within, eliminating the need for Western-style multiparty competition or independent judicial checks.
The new doctrine is regarded by party leaders as vital to its rule. This is because Beijing views internal cohesion as its primary weapon against domestic and international risks as China navigates industrial rebalancing, trade and technological containment by the West, and geopolitical friction.
A more disciplined corps of cadres can help Beijing mitigate risk when implementing national strategies to avoid local protectionism, bureaucratic paralysis and rent-seeking.


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Politics

The Politburo meets early to decide date, allowing Chinese President Xi Jinping to consolidate party affairs before arriving in Washington


The Politburo meets early to decide date, allowing Chinese President Xi Jinping to consolidate party affairs before arriving in Washington.


Xi Jinping

Xinhua News Agency

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.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}The Politburo meets early to decide date, allowing Chinese President Xi Jinping to consolidate party affairs before arriving in Washington

The Politburo meets early to decide date, allowing Chinese President Xi Jinping to consolidate party affairs before arriving in Washington