Xi Jinping opens party session with record low Central Committee attendance

President Xi Jinping began a four-day meeting on Monday aimed at strengthening discipline within the ruling Communist Party. The session marks the fifth plenum, a closed-door gathering attended by approximately 300 members of the party's Central Committee.

This meeting arrives roughly a year before Xi is expected to secure a fourth five-year term as party leader. It also precedes anticipated changes in key leadership roles. Ruby Osman, a senior policy adviser at the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change in London, told The Associated Press that the plenum serves to ensure new generations rising through the ranks align with Xi's view of China's opportunities and risks.

Xi has led a 14-year anticorruption campaign that has removed thousands of officials, including dozens of committee members. In a January speech published by state media before this week's meeting, he criticized "two-faced" officials who appear to follow directives but "inwardly resist" them. He also described them as "politically opportunistic" and prone to "individualism."

Attendance at this year's session is the lowest since the death of former leader Mao Zedong in 1976. Eight Central Committee seats are currently vacant. An additional 15 members are under investigation and could be replaced during the proceedings. The anticorruption drive has also affected the military, removing five of the seven members of the Central Military Commission. The plenum may result in new appointments to that body or a restructuring of party control over the armed forces.

According to Xinhua, the committee will review a draft policy decision on advancing "full and rigorous party self-governance." The goal is to make cadres more disciplined, effective, and less corrupt. Neil Thomas, a senior fellow at the Asia Society Policy Institute, expects calls for closer scrutiny of public spending and major projects. He also anticipates a wider use of technology to uncover corruption and tougher consequences for officials who fail to meet priorities.

The discussions occur while China's economy faces persistently weak domestic spending and a prolonged crisis in the property sector. Turbulent relations with the United States continue to weigh on the leadership. The session will run for four days before concluding with further decisions on party structure and personnel.