Why China's upcoming 5th plenum of 20th CPC Central Committee matters

As China forges ahead with its pursuit of Chinese modernization, the Communist Party of China (CPC) is set to convene a pivotal political meeting that shines a spotlight on the Party's self-governance.

The fifth plenary session of the 20th CPC Central Committee will take place in Beijing from October 26 to 29. According to an official announcement, its main agenda is to study major issues on advancing the Party's full and rigorous self-governance, with the Political Bureau set to report its work to the CPC Central Committee.

Why does this meeting matter? The answer lies not only in the agenda itself, but also in the CPC's efforts over the past decade and more to strengthen its organizational discipline, improve governance and maintain close ties with the people.

Strengthening Party self-governance

Since the 18th CPC National Congress in 2012, full and rigorous Party self-governance has become a central theme in the Party's efforts to strengthen itself and improve its governing capacity.

The sixth plenary session of the 18th CPC Central Committee in 2016 marked a significant milestone. It adopted two important documents – the norms of political life in the Party under the current conditions and the regulation on intra-Party supervision – reinforcing political discipline and institutional oversight and building institutional safeguards for the Party's self-governance.

The norms stressed consolidating ideals and beliefs, adhering to the basic Party line, safeguarding the authority of the CPC Central Committee and maintaining close ties with the people, among other priorities. The regulation aimed to uphold CPC leadership, strengthen Party building, ensure strict Party governance, and maintain the Party's status and purity.

The broader anti-corruption campaign and discipline enforcement have been advanced through strengthened oversight, institutional refinement and sustained action to tackle misconduct among Party members and officials. The core goal is to enable the Party to exercise effective self-supervision and self-governance while maintaining its close bond with the people.

At the sixth plenary session of the 19th CPC Central Committee in 2021, the CPC adopted a resolution on the major achievements and historical experience of the Party over the past century. The resolution reviewed the Party's historical development, including its experience in self-reform and self-improvement, and placed Party building in the broader context of national development and rejuvenation.

While its main theme was historical review, the meeting highlighted strict Party governance, anti-corruption campaigns and upholding self-reform as core lessons for the new era.

Since the 18th CPC National Congress, the CPC has consistently advanced the normalization and institutionalization of conduct improvement, said Liu Suhua, a professor at the Party School of the CPC Central Committee (National Academy of Governance).

The CPC Central Committee has launched nine rounds of extensive study and education campaigns within the Party – a level of frequency, intensity and effectiveness that is rare even when viewed across the Party's century-long history, Liu told CGTN.

The path since the 20th CPC National Congress

The plenary sessions of the 20th CPC Central Committee have continued to address the relationship between Party building, national governance and China's development priorities.

The first plenary session, held in October 2022, elected the new central leadership. The second plenary session, held in February 2023, deliberated on the reform of Party and state institutions, including measures intended to strengthen institutional coordination and improve governance capacity. It also underscored the need to advance full and rigorous Party self-governance and combat corruption.

The third plenary session in July 2024 adopted a resolution on further deepening reform comprehensively to advance Chinese modernization. It outlined reform priorities spanning the economy, science and technology, public services, environmental protection and national security, while emphasizing the Party's leadership in advancing reform.

In October 2025, the fourth plenary session adopted recommendations for formulating China's 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-2030), setting out development priorities for the next five years. The meeting also reviewed progress in strengthening Party governance, including efforts to implement the central Party leadership's eight-point decision on improving work conduct.

The upcoming fifth plenary session takes forward the pursuit of Party self-reform. It is expected to make new strategic arrangements for long-term and rigorous Party governance.

Why it matters

Noting that this year marks the start of China's 15th Five-Year Plan period and that the country is set to achieve the basic realization of socialist modernization by 2035, Liu said full and rigorous Party governance serves as the fundamental guarantee for this strategic objective.

Through continuously strengthening Party building, the CPC ensures that the entire Party maintains a clear-eyed perspective, stays true to its founding mission and remains committed to serving the people wholeheartedly, Liu said.

By consistently advancing self-reform through its plenary sessions, the CPC has ensured that it always retains the support of the people, enabling the Party to lead the Chinese people in continuously achieving new successes in socialist construction, Liu added.

The fifth plenary session is not about "enforcing discipline for the sake of discipline." It is about making the Party itself a more coherent, cleaner and more capable governing instrument – one fit to carry the 15th Five-Year Plan's development agenda, Xia Lu, a research fellow at the National Academy for Development and Strategy of Renmin University of China, told CGTN.

Describing the upcoming session as "pivotal and bridging," Xia said it is expected to provide a strong political guarantee for high-quality development and the advancement of Chinese modernization.