BEIJING: China’s ruling Communist Party will hold the fifth plenary session of its Central Committee in Beijing in October, state-run Xinhua news agency said on Thursday (Jul 30), citing a Politburo meeting.
At the same time, China also pledged to accelerate fiscal spending and adopt “incremental policies” that boost economic growth in the year’s second half, after the second quarter brought a worse-than-expected slowdown.
The top decision-making body of the ruling Communist party, the Politburo, acknowledged “difficulties and challenges facing the economy” at its meeting, the official Xinhua news agency said.
The party conclave will bring together more than 300 full and alternate members of its current Central Committee – the largest of the party’s top decision-making bodies.
The meeting, the fifth since the current Central Committee was formed in 2022, will “study several major issues concerning the sustained advancement of full and rigorous party self-governance”, Xinhua said.
The party’s self-governance drive “faces many new situations and new challenges” due changes to the international and national environments and within the party, Xinhua cited the Politburo as saying.
Typically, seven Central Committee meetings, also known as plenums, are held between major party congresses which convene twice a decade. The party’s constitution requires at least one plenum to be held every year.
The first, second and seventh plenums typically focus on power transition between congresses and key personnel appointments, while the third plenums typically deal with long-term economic reforms.
The fifth plenum usually deliberates the country’s strategic blueprint – the five-year plan – but a delayed third plenum, which was delayed for more than half year until mid 2024 has disrupted conventional scheduling.
