Communiqué of the Fifth Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China

 

Communiqué of the Fifth Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China

(Adopted at the Fifth Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on October 29, 2026)

The Fifth Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China was held in Beijing from October 26 to 29, 2026.

Present at this plenary session were 162 members of the Central Committee and 117 alternate members of the Central Committee. Members of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and responsible comrades from relevant departments attended the meeting as non-voting participants. Among the delegates to the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, some grassroots comrades as well as experts and scholars also attended the meeting as non-voting participants.

The plenary session was chaired by the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee. Xi Jinping, General Secretary of the CPC Central Committee, delivered an important speech.

The plenary session heard and discussed the work report delivered by Xi Jinping on behalf of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, and reviewed and adopted the Decision of the CPC Central Committee on Several Major Issues Concerning the Steadfast Advancement of Comprehensive and Strict Party Governance. Xi Jinping then provided an explanation of the Decision (draft for discussion) to the plenary session.

The plenary session fully affirmed the work of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee since the Fourth Plenary Session of the 20th CPC Central Committee. It unanimously agreed that the Political Bureau has earnestly implemented the spirit of the 20th National Congress of the CPC and all previous plenary sessions of the 20th CPC Central Committee, adhered to the general principle of seeking progress while maintaining stability, comprehensively, accurately, and thoroughly applied the new development philosophy, coordinated the promotion of the “five-sphere integrated plan,” advanced the “four-pronged comprehensive strategy” in a coordinated manner, balanced the domestic and international contexts, and balanced development with security. Solid progress was made in promoting high-quality economic development, advancing socialist democracy and the rule of law, strengthening publicity, ideological, and cultural work, ensuring people’s wellbeing and ecological progress, safeguarding national security and social stability, deepening the comprehensive and strict governance of the Party, enhancing national defense and military modernization, effectively carrying out work related to Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan, and advancing major-country diplomacy with Chinese characteristics. The 14th Five-Year Plan concluded successfully, the 15th Five-Year Plan got off to a good start, and the cause of the Party and the country achieved new progress and results. Efforts were made to foster and practice a correct view of official achievements through study and education; the 105th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China was celebrated with great solemnity, further rallying the powerful force of unity and striving among the entire Party and all ethnic groups across the country.

The plenary session reviewed the Party’s more than 100-year struggle, noting that the Communist Party of China has been able to advance from one victory to another because it upholds the lofty ideal of communism, is committed to the great cause of the Chinese nation for millennia, and remains dedicated to securing happiness for the Chinese people and national rejuvenation. Throughout every historical period, it has attached great importance to Party self-governance, courageously upheld truth and corrected errors, and grown stronger by relying on its own strength and the support of the people in addressing its own problems, thereby becoming the strong leadership core of the Party and the people’s cause. In revolution, construction, and reform, it successively regarded Party building as a great project and a new great project; since the 18th National Congress of the CPC, it has deepened the new great project of Party building for the new era. It has found two answers—“letting the people supervise the government” and “self-revolution”—that break free from the historical cycle of chaos and prosperity, decline and revival. This is a unique contribution of the Communist Party of China, destined to be recorded forever in the annals of Marxist party-building.

The plenary session highly commended the great achievements made in exercising full and rigorous governance over the Party in the new era. It unanimously agreed that the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core, with tremendous political courage and a strong sense of responsibility, squarely confronted the grave realities—once characterized by weakened, hollowed-out, and diluted Party leadership; lax, insincere, and ineffective Party management and governance; and alarming problems within the Party. Resolutely committed to exercising full and rigorous governance over the Party, the Party has turned the blade inward, adopted stringent measures to restore order, and continuously addressed prominent issues. This has fundamentally reversed the situation of laxity and weakness in Party management and governance, put an end to longstanding unhealthy tendencies that had long gone unchecked, corrected chronic ailments that had persisted for years, and eliminated serious hidden dangers within the Party, the state, and the military. Through this revolutionary forging, the Party has become even stronger and more powerful. Exercising full and rigorous governance over the Party in the new era has opened up a new horizon for the self-revolution of the century-old Party, propelled historic achievements and transformative changes in the cause of the Party and the country, and enabled the Party and the people to seize the historic initiative in building a strong Party and a strong nation.

The plenary session pointed out that, in the great practice of governing and strengthening the Party and rejuvenating the Party in the new era, the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core has addressed the major contemporary question of what kind of long-term ruling Marxist party should be built and how it should be built. In doing so, it has put forward a series of new concepts, ideas, and strategies, thereby forming Xi Jinping Thought on Party Building. This thought enriches and develops Marxist theory on party building; it is a major achievement in advancing theoretical innovation by upholding the integration of the fundamental principles of Marxism with China’s specific realities and with the fine traditional Chinese culture; it embodies the practical experience and collective wisdom of the Party and the people; and it constitutes an important component of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era. It provides the fundamental guiding principles and action guide for deepening the new great project of Party building in the new era.

The plenary session emphasized that while the Party enjoys many favorable conditions for exercising full and rigorous self-governance, it also faces numerous new circumstances and challenges. As profound changes unfold in the global landscape, national conditions, and the state of the Party itself, the tasks of uniting and leading the people to safeguard national sovereignty, security, and development interests have become even more arduous; so too have the tasks of rallying the people to advance reform and development and to maintain social harmony and stability; and the task of preserving the Party’s advanced nature and purity has grown ever more demanding. These developments pose significant challenges to the Party’s governing capacity, leadership, cadre quality, and ability to resist corruption and prevent degeneration under the new circumstances. The “four major tests” and “four grave dangers” confronting the Party are long-term, complex, and severe. The entire Party must, from the strategic perspective of consolidating the Party’s long-term ruling position and realizing the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation, deeply appreciate the profound significance of persistently advancing full and rigorous self-governance. We must strengthen our confidence, remain steadfast, and, with higher standards and more concrete measures, effectively uphold and apply the valuable experiences gained in this new era of comprehensive Party self-governance; thoroughly address and resolve the most salient problems facing Party building; and consolidate and further develop the sound political environment fostered by strict Party governance.

The plenary session pointed out that to persistently advance the Party’s self‑discipline in all respects, we must uphold Marxism–Leninism, Mao Zedong Thought, Deng Xiaoping Theory, the important thought of Three Represents, and the Scientific Outlook on Development; fully implement Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era; and thoroughly study and apply Xi Jinping’s Thought on Party Building. Centering on the realization of the Party’s missions and tasks, we must implement the general requirements for Party building in the new era, take the Party Constitution as the fundamental basis, uphold the Party’s nature as the vanguard of the working class, and maintain the Party’s overall leadership and the centralized, unified leadership of the CPC Central Committee. With a focus on enhancing the Party’s long-term governance capacity, preserving its advanced nature and purity, and strengthening its close ties with the people, we must unswervingly maintain a rigorous tone, improve the system for exercising full Party self‑discipline, give priority to political Party building, comprehensively advance all aspects of Party building, fully stimulate the initiative, enthusiasm, and creativity of the entire Party, continuously achieve the Party’s self‑purification, self‑improvement, self‑renewal, and self‑elevation, and steadily strengthen the Party’s political leadership, ideological guidance, mass mobilization, and social appeal. In this way, we will ensure that the Party remains a Marxist ruling party that leads the times, enjoys the heartfelt support of the people, stands the test of all kinds of challenges, and brims with vitality; and that it continues to serve as the strong leadership core of the cause of socialism with Chinese characteristics.

The plenary session emphasized that the principles guiding the sustained advancement of comprehensively strengthening Party self-discipline are: upholding service to the mission and tasks; placing political development of the Party at the forefront; maintaining comprehensive and rigorous governance; adopting a problem-oriented approach; adhering to both upholding fundamental principles and promoting innovation; setting an example from top to bottom; and governing the Party in accordance with regulations.

The plenary session laid out a comprehensive plan for steadfastly advancing the Party’s self‑discipline and strict governance, emphasizing the strengthening of Communist Party members’ Party spirit, the rigorous implementation of democratic centralism, the cultivation of a high‑quality cadre corps capable of shouldering the great task of national rejuvenation, the establishment of a tightly knit organizational system that ensures seamless communication and effective execution from top to bottom, the unremitting rectification of conduct and enforcement of discipline, the unwavering integrated promotion of preventing corruption through deterrence, institutional safeguards, and moral integrity, adherence to governing the Party according to law and regulations, the improvement of the Party and state supervision system, and the rigorous assignment and enforcement of responsibilities for Party management and governance.

The plenary session stated that strengthening Party spirit is a fundamental task in exercising full and rigorous governance over the Party. All Party members and cadres must uphold the Party’s nature and purpose, enhance their awareness of the Party, their identity as Party members, and their sense of being vanguard fighters. They must treat the cultivation of Party spirit as a lifelong endeavor, striving to strengthen their ideals and convictions, forge unwavering loyalty to the Party, foster deep concern for the people, adhere to seeking truth from facts, cultivate sound moral character, and maintain integrity and honesty—thus remaining loyal, clean, and responsible, and forever preserving the political character of Communists. Efforts must be intensified to educate Party members in loyalty to the Party, to use the Party’s innovative theories to unite hearts and fortify souls, to nurture Party spirit through the Party’s fine traditions and China’s outstanding traditional culture, to temper Party spirit through practical experience, and to strengthen the ability to discern and assess Party spirit.

The plenary session stated that democratic centralism is the Party’s fundamental organizational principle and leadership system, and that upholding and implementing it is an intrinsic requirement for exercising full and rigorous governance over the Party. It is imperative to improve and enforce all systems under the framework of democratic centralism, fully promote intra-Party democracy, ensure effective and sound centralization, and better leverage the political, organizational, institutional, and operational strengths of democratic centralism. We must uphold and strengthen the CPC Central Committee’s centralized and unified leadership, enhance the quality of intra-Party democracy, strictly enforce the rules governing decision-making and deliberation by leading bodies, and standardize the exercise of duties and powers by principal leaders.

The plenary session stated that the key to exercising full and rigorous governance over the Party lies in strict management of cadres. It is imperative to implement the Party’s organizational line for the new era, rigorously strengthen cadre education and training, selection and appointment, and management and oversight, so as to build a high-caliber cadre team that is politically strong, highly competent, of excellent conduct, and strictly disciplined. We must uphold the correct orientation in personnel use, select and appoint cadres with precision and scientific rigor, encourage cadres to establish and practice a proper view of political achievements, enhance their ability to accomplish tasks and start businesses, improve the quality of cultivating and selecting outstanding young cadres, strengthen cadre management and oversight, and foster, attract, and make good use of talent in all respects.

The plenary session stated that Party organizations at all levels are the principal actors in exercising full and rigorous self-governance. It is imperative to advance, in a systematic manner, the development of Party organizations across all levels and sectors, strengthening their political and organizational functions to ensure coordinated, precise, and efficient implementation of the Party’s guidelines, policies, and the decisions and arrangements of the CPC Central Committee. We must give full play to the exemplary role of Party organizations in central and state organs, reinforce the functions of local Party committees, coordinate and promote the building of primary-level Party organizations in all fields, prioritize Party building in emerging sectors, strengthen the ranks of Party members, and improve mechanisms for seamless integration among Party organizations at all levels.

The plenary session stated that rectifying conduct and enforcing discipline are powerful measures for comprehensively and strictly governing the Party. It is essential to address Party character, conduct, and discipline in tandem, integrate efforts to improve conduct with disciplinary enforcement and anti-corruption work, and further apply the experience of advancing comprehensive and strict Party governance by starting with improving conduct. We must continuously improve our style of work, govern the Party with rigorous discipline, and rally the people’s hearts and minds through a positive image. To do so, we must uphold the Party’s mass line in the new era, unremittingly implement the spirit of the CPC Central Committee’s Eight-point Decision on Improving Party and Government Conduct, institutionalize and sustain improvements in conduct, strengthen strict enforcement of discipline, and fully leverage the disciplinary system’s roles in education, constraint, protection, and motivation.

The plenary session stated that promoting, in a coordinated manner, the deterrence of corruption, the prevention of opportunities for corruption, and the cultivation of an aversion to corruption is a key strategy for exercising full and rigorous Party self-governance and the fundamental principle guiding the fight against corruption. It must be firmly borne in mind that the Party has no interests of its own apart from those of the working class and the broadest masses of the people, and that the Party is irreconcilable with corruption. We must steadfastly follow the Chinese path to combating corruption, strengthen the CPC Central Committee’s centralized and unified leadership over anti-corruption efforts, place greater emphasis on addressing both symptoms and root causes through systemic approaches, adhere to strict punishment, precise governance, effective prevention, and integrated implementation, and carry the fight against corruption through to the end. We must maintain a high-pressure stance against corruption, strengthen checks and oversight over the exercise of power, consolidate the ideological foundation of valuing integrity and rejecting corruption, and enhance the overall effectiveness of advancing, in a coordinated way, the deterrence of corruption, the prevention of opportunities for corruption, and the cultivation of an aversion to corruption.

The plenary session stated that strengthening the development of Party regulations and systems is a long-term and fundamental strategy for exercising full and rigorous governance over the Party. It is essential to uphold the Party Constitution as the fundamental code of conduct for the entire Party, deepen reforms of the Party’s institutional framework, and promote the organic integration of governing the country according to law and governing the Party according to regulations, thereby providing robust institutional guarantees for persistently advancing full and rigorous governance of the Party. We must improve the system of Party regulations and enhance their enforceability, while vigorously dismantling informal rules and unwritten practices.

The plenary session stated that, in order to sustain efforts to comprehensively and strictly govern the Party, it is essential to further improve the Party and state supervision system. We must strengthen the comprehensive oversight of Party committees (leading Party groups), refine the dual leadership structure of disciplinary inspection and supervision work, promote deep integration and efficient coordination between intra-Party oversight and oversight by all sectors, and give full play to the pivotal role of inspection as a powerful tool for comprehensive oversight.

The plenary session emphasized that consistently advancing the Party’s self-governance in all respects is a shared political responsibility of the entire Party. It is imperative to focus on the key issue of the accountability system for Party governance, improve the system of responsibilities characterized by clear division of duties and unified coordination, optimize mechanisms for assessing and enforcing accountability, and hold those who fail to effectively govern the Party or allow serious problems to arise strictly accountable.

The plenary session pointed out that thoroughly studying and implementing the spirit of the plenary session is a major political task for the entire Party, both now and in the period ahead. It is essential to study and grasp the spirit of the plenary session in depth, strengthen organizational leadership, continue to focus on addressing prominent problems, and ensure that all the arrangements set forth in the Decision are effectively put into practice.

The plenary session emphasized the need to effectively carry out all tasks at the year’s end and the beginning of the next. It called for upholding the overarching principle of seeking progress while maintaining stability, fully, accurately, and comprehensively implementing the new development philosophy, accelerating the establishment of a new development pattern, making optimal use of macro policies, deeply tapping the potential of domestic demand, further deepening reform and opening up, and promoting sustained economic development that is innovative, high-quality, and favorable. These efforts aim to ensure the successful completion of this year’s major economic and social development goals and tasks, thus securing a strong start to the 15th Five-Year Plan period. Balancing development with security, the session urged strengthening inclusive, foundational, and safety-net social programs, and ensuring workplace safety, disaster prevention, mitigation, and relief, food and drug safety, and social stability. It also stressed consolidating and expanding the achievements of education on establishing and practicing a correct view of official performance, integrating such efforts with leadership transitions to provide targeted training on this perspective—especially for newly appointed leaders and chief executives—so as to guide them in consciously upholding the principles of serving the public interest, benefiting the people, making evidence-based decisions, and working diligently and pragmatically, striving to deliver tangible results for the people through concrete action.

The Plenary Session decided that the 21st National Congress of the Communist Party of China will be held in Beijing in the second half of 2027. The Session concluded that the 21st National Congress is a vitally important congress convened by our Party at a critical juncture—when we have basically achieved socialist modernization and are embarking on a new journey toward the Second Centenary Goal—and that it constitutes a major event in the political life of the Party and the country. The entire Party must unite and lead the people of all ethnic groups across the nation in concerted effort and vigorous endeavor, striving together to achieve basic socialist modernization, continuously opening up new prospects for advancing the great cause of national rejuvenation through Chinese-style modernization, and welcoming the successful convening of the 21st National Congress with concrete actions.

The plenary session elected Zhang Shengmin as a member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee.

In accordance with the Party Constitution, the Plenary Session decided to appoint Lu Dongliang, Bao Gang, Xing Shanping, Qu Yingpu, Lü Jun, Zhu Tianshu, Zhu Guoxian, Liu Jun, Liu Jie, and Liu Qiang as members of the Central Committee, supplementing the alternate members.

The plenary session reviewed and approved the report of the CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection on the serious disciplinary and legal violations involving Ma Xingrui, Lan Tianli, Liu Jianchao, Wang Lixia, Jin Zhuanglong, Lei Fanpei, Yi Huiman, Wang Xiangxi, Sun Shaocheng, Li Yunze, Fei Dongbin, Wu Shenghua, Yu Jianfeng, Yuan Jie, Zhang Zhongyang, Wen Gang, Jin Donghan, and Fang Hongwei; it also reviewed and approved the report of the CPC Central Military Commission on the serious disciplinary and legal violations involving Zhang Youxia, Liu Zhenli, Wang Renhua, Liu Qingsong, Huang Ming, Li Qiaoming, Li Wei, Zhang Hongbing, Wang Haijiang, Zhang Lin, Wang Peng, Liu Faqing, Yang Cheng, Zhong Shaojun, Zhao Xiaozhe, Fang Yongxiang; and confirmed the decisions previously made by the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee to expel from the Party Ma Xingrui, Zhang Youxia, Liu Zhenli, Lan Tianli, Liu Jianchao, Wang Lixia, Jin Zhuanglong, Lei Fanpei, Yi Huiman, Wang Xiangxi, Sun Shaocheng, Wang Renhua, Liu Qingsong, Huang Ming, Li Qiaoming, Li Wei, Zhang Hongbing, Wang Haijiang, Zhang Lin, Wang Peng, Liu Faqing, Yang Cheng, Zhong Shaojun, Zhao Xiaozhe, Fei Dongbin, Wu Shenghua, Yu Jianfeng, Yuan Jie, Zhang Zhongyang, Wen Gang, Jin Donghan, Fang Hongwei, and Fang Yongxiang, and to remove Li Yunze from his Party post.

The plenary session called on the entire Party to rally even more closely around the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core, fully implement Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, work tirelessly and forge ahead with determination, persistently advance the comprehensive and strict governance of the Party, continuously open up new prospects in Party governance and strengthening the Party in the new era, and unite and lead the people of all ethnic groups across the country in unremitting efforts to fully build a modern socialist country and comprehensively advance the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation through Chinese-style modernization.

(Xinhua, Beijing, October 29)