Name: Political Purge, Power Transfer: What's to Expect on China's Plenum
Uploaded: 2025-10-21T03:56:21.000Z
Description: China now faces a slew of challenges, from a flaring trade war with the United States to persistent deflationary pressures at home.

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The most important event in China's 2025 political calendar, the Chinese Communist Party's (CCP) fourth plenum, starts on Oct. 20 and lasts four days.

A plenum is the annual meeting of the CCP’s Central Committee. This body consists of the party's top 205 officials and around 170 alternate members, all of whom will convene in Beijing for the event.

China now faces a slew of challenges, from a flaring trade war with the United States to persistent deflationary pressures at home. This marks a major deviation for the meeting—normally, the fourth plenum typically focuses on party governance, but this time the focus will instead be on the economy and refining the 15th five-year plan, which will frame China's economic development from 2026 to 2030.

This meeting is also seen as providing a pivotal marker of CCP leader Xi Jinping's status, as speculation runs wild that he might have lost his power after most of his inner circle has been purged.

Here are things to know about the conclave.
<h2><strong>Political Purge and Reshuffle</strong></h2>
In a dramatic <a href="https://www.theepochtimes.com/china/as-military-purges-deepen-ccps-fourth-plenum-to-test-xi-jinpings-grip-on-power-analysts-5931724">purge of China's top brass</a>, the CCP announced on Oct. 16, just 4 days before the plenum, the expulsion of nine senior military officers—including one of the two vice chairmen of the Central Military Commission (CMC) and a member of the CCP's powerful Politburo.

The nine purged are all Xi’s inner circle, which further strengthened speculation and Xi might have lost power.

Commentator Hong Yaonan <a href="https://newtalk.tw/news/view/2025-10-17/999567">wrote</a> in Taiwan media Newtalk that the military restructuring is nothing short of a political “nuclear explosion.” From the CMC’s vice chairman to the Rocket Force, Navy, Armed Police, Eastern Theater Command, Joint Operations Center, and political work hub—nearly all core military systems collapsed overnight, tantamount to a "total annihilation of high-level military leadership."

All nine individuals purged were frontline generals personally promoted by Xi and granted very important roles, for example, He Weidong was the mastermind behind Taiwan Strait exercises; Miao Hua and He Hongjun were model figures in political work; and Wang Houbin was tasked with rectifying the Rocket Force. They were the "most trusted among Xi's trusted." Now, not one of them has been spared.

“This purge is not just about cleaning up corruption; it represents a complete bankruptcy of trust within the military.” Hong said.

Hong Kong media Sing Tao Daily reported on Oct. 20 that the fourth plenum is expected to fill at least 12 vacancies in the central committee.

After the purge, the number of CMC members will drop from 7 to 4 and the Politburo will shrink from 24 to 23 members. External observers also predict that new CMC members will be added.
<h2>The Economy Plan</h2>
According to the official announcements, one of the fourth plenum’s the main agenda is to make the 15th five-year economy plan.

The latest data show that China's economic growth slowed again in the third quarter, with retail sector value-added dropping to its lowest point in nearly a year. This adds pressure on the CCP.

Analysts expect that the fourth plenum and the five-year plan were meant to boost weak domestic consumer demand and overcapacity. However, amid escalating U.S.-China geopolitical rivalry, Beijing is likely to ultimately prioritize funding for high-tech industries and industrial upgrades.

The CCP’s mouth piece, Xinhua, in an editorial on the plenum <a href="http://www.news.cn/politics/20251020/f5ee546032434707a926f7d160beb6a1/c.html">said</a>, "the development environment is facing profound and complex changes, with strategic opportunities and risks coexisting, and unpredictable and uncertain factors increasing." This is seen as an indirect admission of the severe downward trend in China's current economy.

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