China's Xi opens Communist Party plenum, aims for firm governance measures

BEIJING, Oct 26 (Reuters) - China's Communist ‌Party began a ​four-day ​meeting of its highest-ranking members on Monday targeting concrete measures for "full and rigorous party self-governance", as President Xi Jinping seeks to reinforce his authority ‌and enforce ideological uniformity.

Xi briefed the party's Central Committee on a ⁠draft document that state news agency Xinhua said addressed the challenges the party faced, including growing ‌its governing capacity, as well as ‌guarding against complacency and combating corruption, the president's signature campaign.

The implementation of major decisions and plans of the Central Committee, the largest of its top decision-making ​bodies, must not be empty rhetoric, the commentary wrote.

"It is essential to both refine institutional rules and regulations to close loopholes and strengthen safeguards, and ⁠ensure their effective implementation," it said.

The Central Committee will convene in the closed-door meeting from Monday to Thursday - ​the fifth since the current cohort was formed in 2022 and therefore known as the fifth plenum.

Analysts say this could be ​the last major party gathering before its 2027 ‌leadership reshuffle, when Xi is expected to hold on to the top job for a fourth term.

ROOTING OUT CORRUPTION FOR MARKET ⁠PREDICTABILITY

Xi has overseen a vast anti-corruption campaign in recent years which has led to the purge of hundreds of senior officials and top generals, even the president's one-time allies.

While ⁠critics argue the purges - particularly those targeting the highest ranks of the armed forces - are destabilising ​and undermine combat readiness, the party has portrayed the campaign as both necessary and regenerative, saying the military must undergo a phoenix-like rebirth and "bathe in flames and be forged anew."

The Xinhua ‌commentary propped up the anti-corruption drive as a demonstration of "sustained and systemic" self-governance to "ensure officials dare not, cannot and do not ‌want to commit corruption".

"For global investors and policymakers, this signals greater predictability," it said, ⁠arguing that China was also creating ‌a more transparent environment ​for international cooperation as merit and the rule of law prevail over connections and bribery.

(Reporting by Liz Lee; Editing by Tom Hogue and ‌Raju Gopalakrishnan)

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