Fourth plenary session of the 20th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party
2025 Chinese Communist Party gathering
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The fourth plenary session of the 20th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party took place in Beijing 20 to 23 October 2025. The main agenda of the meeting included the Politburo reporting to the Central Committee on its work and the study of proposals on formulating the fifteenth five-year plan. Personnel changes were also made.
147 Central Committee alternate members
| Fourth plenary session of the 20th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party 中国共产党第二十届中央委员会第四次全体会议 | |
|---|---|
Façade of the Great Hall of the People | |
| Date | 20–23 October 2025 (3 days) |
| Locations | Banquet Hall, Great Hall of the People, Beijing, China |
| Previous event | Third plenary session of the 20th Central Committee |
| Attendance | 168 Central Committee members 147 Central Committee alternate members |
| General Secretary | Xi Jinping |
| Fourth plenary session of the 20th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Simplified Chinese | 中国共产党第二十届中央委员会第四次全体会议 | ||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 中國共產黨第二十屆中央委員會第四次全體會議 | ||||||
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| Abbreviation | |||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 中共二十届四中全会 | ||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 中共二十屆四中全會 | ||||||
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Background
The CCP Central Committee's fourth plenary session has generally been used to launch China's fifteenth five-year plan.[1] It was attended by approximately 200 voting members and 170 alternate members of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party.[2]
Meetings and speeches
On the morning of October 20, 2025, the fourth plenary session was held in Beijing. CCP General Secretary Xi Jinping delivered a work report to the plenary session on behalf of the Politburo and explained to the plenary session the "Proposal of the CCP Central Committee on Formulating the 15th Five-Year Plan for National Economic and Social Development (Draft for Discussion)".[3] Details were not released.[2] It was anticipated then that some (such as personnel changes)[4] would not be announced for days, weeks, or months, the rubber stamp[5] National People's Congress[6] session of March 2026 being the formal occasion of its public promulgation.[7]
Conclusion and analysis
In the event, numerous personnel changes were confirmed in a 5,000-word[8] communiqué issued at the conclusion of the plenum. Zhang Shengmin was added as a vice chairman of the CCP Central Military Commission (CMC), the second highest position in the military hierarchy, replacing He Weidong, who had been purged only the week before.[9] (No sitting member of the CMC has been purged since the Cultural Revolution.)[10] Empty seats of the Central Committee of the CCP were filled by the alternate members Deng Xiuming, Deng Yiwu, Lu Hong, Ma Hancheng, Wang Jian, Wang Tingkai, Wang Xi, Wang Xinwei, Wang Yonghong, Wei Tao, and Yu Huiwen.[11] Hence 11 members of that body were replaced in the aftermath of the anti-corruption campaign, the highest turnover since 2017.[9]
Notably, national defense capability was included for the first time in a Five Year Plan.[12] Furthermore, some investigations had not heretofore been announced, and only 82% of Central Committee members were in attendance. Out of 205 members, 168 attended the meeting, the communique said, along with 147 out of 171 alternates, itself the lowest attendance since the Cultural Revolution.[13][14][9] Institutionally, the seven-seat Central Military Commission (CMC) now has only four serving members.[15]
