Communique 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 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China convened its fifth plenary session in Beijing from October 26 to 29, 2026.

A total of 162 members and 117 alternate members of the Central Committee attended the session. Members of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and leading officials from relevant departments were present at the meeting in a non-voting capacity. Some of our primary-level colleagues and a number of experts and scholars, serving as delegates to the 20th National Party Congress, also attended the meeting in a non-voting capacity.

The Political Bureau of the Central Committee presided over the meeting. Xi Jinping, General Secretary of the Central Committee, delivered an important address.

The Central Committee heard and discussed a report on the work of the Political Bureau, presented by Xi Jinping on behalf of the Political Bureau. They also deliberated and adopted the Resolution of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on Certain Major Issues concerning Persevering with Full and Rigorous Party Self-Governance. Xi Jinping delivered explanatory remarks on the draft Resolution.

At the session, the Central Committee fully affirmed the work of the Political Bureau since the fourth plenary session of the 20th Central Committee. It was unanimously agreed that the Political Bureau has secured progress in the following respects: earnestly implementing the guiding principles from the Party's 20th National Congress and the plenary sessions of the 20th Central Committee; adhering to the general principle of pursuing progress while ensuring stability; fully and faithfully applying the new development philosophy on all fronts; implementing the Five-Sphere Integrated Plan and the Four-Pronged Comprehensive Strategy in a coordinated way; balancing domestic and international imperatives; ensuring both development and security; delivering tangible results in high-quality economic development; advancing socialist democracy and the rule of law; improving public communication and cultural work; ensuring the people's wellbeing and promoting ecological conservation; safeguarding national security and social stability; further strengthening full and rigorous Party self-governance; modernizing national defense and the armed forces; carrying out work related to Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan; and pursuing major-country diplomacy with Chinese characteristics. Thanks to these efforts, the 14th Five-Year Plan has been brought to a successful conclusion and the 15th Five-Year Plan period is off to a good start with new progress and results achieved in the cause of the Party and the country. It was also noted that, this year, we launched a study campaign on establishing and practicing the correct view of performance and celebrated the 105th anniversary of the Communist Party of China. These occasions have further harnessed the mighty force that stems from the entire Party and the whole nation forging ahead in unity.

Looking back on the Party's journey since its founding, the Central Committee pointed out at the session that the key to the success of the Communist Party of China in winning one victory after another lies in its pursuit of the high ideal of communism, its dedication to achieving lasting greatness for the Chinese nation, and its commitment to seeking happiness for the Chinese people and rejuvenation for the Chinese nation. During each historical period, the Party has attached great importance to its self-governance, had the courage to uphold truth and correct errors, and grown ever stronger by relying on its own efforts and the support of the people to resolve its own problems, ultimately emerging as the strong leadership core in the cause of the Party and the people. The Party advanced Party building as a great project and then a great new project in the periods of revolution, development, and reform, and it has made further progress in this regard in the new era since its 18th National Congress. During this course, the Party has found two answers to the question of how to escape the historical cycle of rise and fall: the people's oversight over government and the Party's self-reform. These are the unique discoveries of the Communist Party of China, and will forever stand out in the history of Marxist parties.

Participants at the session gave a highly positive assessment of the great achievements our Party has made in exercising full and rigorous self-governance in the new era. It was unanimously agreed that the Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core demonstrated tremendous political courage and a strong sense of responsibility in confronting the grave situation marked by weak, hollow, and watered-down Party leadership, lax, superficial, and ineffective self-supervision and self-governance, as well as some startling problems within the Party. Staying firmly committed to full and rigorous Party self-governance, the Central Committee introduced the most stringent measures and dedicated continuous efforts to tackle all these prominent issues. As a result, the problem of lax and weak self-supervision and self-governance has been addressed at the root, unhealthy tendencies that had long gone unchecked have been curbed, deep-seated problems that had plagued the Party for years have been remedied, and serious dangers hidden within the Party, the state, and the military have been removed. The Party has thus grown stronger through revolutionary tempering. The endeavors to advance full and rigorous governance over the Party in the new era have broken new ground in the self-reform of our century-old Party and brought about historic achievements and transformations in the cause of the Party and the country. The Party and the people have thus seized the historic initiative in building a great party and a great country.

It was pointed out that as the Party endeavors to supervise, govern, develop, and strengthen itself in the new era, the Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core has put forward a series of new ideas, new thinking, and new strategies in response to the major questions of our times -- what kind of long-term governing Marxist party we should build and how we should build it, thereby giving birth to Xi Jinping Thought on Party Building. This thought has enriched and developed Marxist theory on party building, and it represents a major achievement in advancing the Party's theoretical innovation through the integration of the basic tenets of Marxism with China's specific realities and its fine traditional culture. It stands as a crystallization of the practical experience and collective wisdom of the Party and the people. As an important component of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, it provides fundamental guidance and a road map for further advancing the great new project of Party building in the new era.

It was stressed that many favorable conditions are now in place for advancing full and rigorous Party self-governance, while we are also facing many new circumstances and new issues in this endeavor. Profound changes in global, national, and Party conditions have made the Party's tasks of uniting and leading the people in safeguarding China's sovereignty, security, and development interests, of uniting and leading the people in promoting reform and development and maintaining social harmony and stability, and of maintaining its advanced nature and integrity even more arduous. All this poses formidable challenges to the Party's governance and leadership capacity, the quality of its membership, and its resistance against corruption and moral decline under the new circumstances. Moreover, the "four tests" and "four dangers" confronting our Party are still protracted, complicated, and serious.

On this account, all of us in the Party must gain a deep understanding of the great significance of persevering with full and rigorous Party self-governance from the strategic perspective of consolidating the Party's long-term governing position and realizing the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. We must build firm confidence, maintain resolve, and adopt higher standards and more concrete measures to carry forward the valuable experience of full and rigorous Party self-governance in the new era, handle and resolve the prominent problems in Party building, and consolidate and develop the sound political situation formed through Party self-supervision and self-governance.

It was stated that in persevering with full and rigorous Party self-governance, we must uphold Marxism-Leninism, Mao Zedong Thought, Deng Xiaoping Theory, the Theory 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 Thought on Party Building. Dedicated to fulfilling the Party's missions and tasks, we must act in line with the overall requirements for Party building in the new era, take the Party Constitution as our fundamental guide, maintain the Party's vanguard nature, and uphold the overall leadership of the Party and the centralized, unified leadership of the Party Central Committee. We must focus on enhancing the Party's capacity for long-term governance, preserving its advanced nature and integrity, and maintaining its close bond with the people. We must unwaveringly apply strict principles, improve the system of exercising full and rigorous Party self-governance, and take strengthening the Party politically as the overarching principle to advance Party building on all fronts. We must stimulate greater motivation, initiative, and creativity within the whole Party, continue working to purify, improve, renew, and excel ourselves, and constantly strengthen the Party's capacity for providing political leadership, giving theoretical guidance, organizing the people, and inspiring society. In doing so, we will see that the Party always remains a vibrant Marxist governing party that stays at the forefront of the times, enjoys the wholehearted support of the people, and is able to withstand all tests, and that it always remains the strong leadership core of the cause of socialism with Chinese characteristics.

At the session, the guiding principles for persevering with full and rigorous Party self-governance were highlighted as follows: serving the Party's missions and tasks; taking strengthening the Party politically as the overarching principle; exercising rigorous governance across the board; adopting a problem-oriented approach; upholding fundamental principles and breaking new ground; adhering to a top-down approach; and running the Party according to regulations.

Systematic plans for persevering with full and rigorous Party self-governance were also made at the session with the emphasis on strengthening the Party spirit of Communists; strictly practicing democratic centralism; cultivating high-caliber officials capable of shouldering the mission of national rejuvenation; building a well-knit organizational system characterized by cross-level alignment and effective implementation; improving conduct and tightening discipline on an ongoing basis; taking firm and coordinated action against corruption; running the Party with systems and regulations; refining Party and state oversight systems; and ensuring all responsibilities of Party self-supervision and self-governance are fulfilled in earnest.

It was pointed out that strengthening the Party spirit represents a fundamental task of our efforts to ensure full and rigorous Party self-governance. We must, therefore, encourage all Party members and officials to uphold the Party's nature and purpose, raise Party consciousness, have a better understanding of their identity as Party members and the Party's vanguard nature, and maintain a lifelong commitment to cultivating stronger Party spirit. We must also encourage them to devote efforts to strengthening ideals and convictions, forging strong loyalty to the Party, fostering deep affection for the people, always seeking truth from facts, building moral character, and preserving honesty and integrity. These efforts will help them to be loyal, upright, and responsible and always preserve the true political character of Communists. In this regard, measures will be taken to strengthen education on loyalty to the Party, build cohesion and inner strength with the Party's latest theories, nurture the Party spirit with the Party's good traditions and fine traditional Chinese culture, temper the Party spirit in practice, and enhance Party spirit appraisal.

It was noted that democratic centralism is the Party's fundamental organizational principle and leadership system, and its implementation is therefore an inherent requirement for exercising full and rigorous Party self-governance. We must improve and implement the institutions of democratic centralism, giving full play to intraparty democracy while effectively practicing correct centralism. This will allow us to better draw on the political, organizational, institutional, and working strengths of democratic centralism. In practice, measures will be taken to uphold and strengthen the Party Central Committee's centralized, unified leadership, improve the efficacy of intraparty democracy, strictly implement deliberation rules and decision-making procedures for leadership teams, and regulate leadership team heads' performance of duties and exercise of power.

It was stated that strict management of officials is the key to full and rigorous Party self-governance. We must implement the Party's organizational line for the new era and apply stringent standards to the education, cultivation, selection, appointment, management, and oversight of officials. On this basis, we will build up the ranks of high-caliber officials with firm political commitment, outstanding professional competence, excellent work conduct, and strict discipline. Following sound guidelines in appointing officials, we should take targeted, well-designed measures to select and appoint officials, inspire officials to foster and act on the correct view of performance, enhance officials' competence in fulfilling their duties and breaking new ground, improve the training and selection of outstanding young officials, and strengthen management and oversight of officials, with a view to promoting the training, recruitment, and utilization of talented people across the board.

It was stated that Party organizations at all levels play the principal role in exercising full and rigorous Party self-governance. It is therefore essential to systematically advance the development of Party organizations at all levels and in all sectors to strengthen their political and organizational functions. This will help ensure that the Party's lines, principles, and policies, as well as the Party Central Committee's decisions and plans are implemented through well-coordinated, targeted, and effective efforts. More specifically, we should give play to the exemplary role of Party organizations of central Party and state organs, bolster the functions of local Party committees, take coordinated steps to improve primary-level Party organizations across all sectors, promote Party building in emerging sectors, build a strong contingent of Party members, and refine mechanisms to ensure alignment across different levels of Party organizations.

It was pointed out that improving conduct and tightening discipline are effective measures to advance full and rigorous Party self-governance. We must work in concert to enhance Party spirit, improve Party conduct, and tighten Party discipline, and integrate conduct improvement and discipline enforcement with anti-corruption measures. Drawing on the experience gained in advancing full and rigorous Party self-governance through conduct improvement efforts, we will ensure steady improvements in our conduct, supervise and govern the Party with strict discipline, and pool support and strength with a positive image. In practice, we will follow the Party's mass line in the new era, steadfastly implement the central Party leadership's eight-point decision on improving work conduct, put in consistent and sustained efforts to improve conduct, ensure more rigorous discipline enforcement, and make full use of discipline as a guide, restraint, guarantee, and incentive.

It was noted that taking integrated steps to ensure that officials do not have the audacity, opportunity, or desire to commit corruption is both an important strategy for full and rigorous Party self-governance and a fundamental guideline for our fight against corruption. The Party tolerates no corruption, as it has no special interests of its own besides the interests of the working class and the greatest possible majority of the people. Keeping this firmly in mind, we must steadfastly follow a distinctive Chinese path of anti-corruption and strengthen the Party Central Committee's centralized, unified leadership over anti-corruption work. We must take systematic steps to address both symptoms and root causes of corruption and adopt a holistic approach that combines severe punishment, targeted remedy, and effective prevention, carrying this fight through to the end. While maintaining a tough stance against corruption, we should also strengthen checks on and oversight over the exercise of power, fortify the cultural-ethical foundations for championing integrity and disdaining corruption, and enhance coordinated efforts to prevent corruption by rooting out audacity, opportunity, and desire.

It was noted that strengthening Party regulations and institutions represents a long-term, fundamental strategy for ensuring full and rigorous Party self-governance. We must uphold the Party Constitution as the fundamental code of conduct for all Party members, deepen institutional reforms related to Party building, and integrate law-based governance of the country and regulation-based self-governance of the Party, thus providing strong institutional support for persevering with full and rigorous Party self-governance. For this purpose, stronger measures will be taken to improve the framework of Party regulations and institutions, ensure the enforcement of institutions, and eliminate hidden rules.

It was stated that persevering with full and rigorous Party self-governance entails further improvement to Party and state oversight systems. With this in mind, we should ensure that Party committees (leading Party members groups) exercise general oversight, improve the dual leadership system for discipline inspection and supervision, pursue greater integration and efficient collaboration between intraparty oversight and other avenues of oversight, and give play to the role of inspections as a powerful tool of comprehensive oversight.

It was stressed that persevering with full and rigorous Party self-governance is the common political responsibility of all Party members. Attaching crucial importance to the responsibility system for Party self-supervision and self-governance, we will establish a robust, unified system where all sides perform their respective responsibilities in close collaboration. Furthermore, relevant performance assessment mechanisms will be improved, so that those who have failed to effectively carry out Party self-supervision and self-governance and caused serious problems in this regard are strictly held to account.

It was pointed out that studying and implementing the guiding principles from this plenary session represent a major political task for the entire Party both at present and in the period to come. With this in mind, we should fully grasp the guiding principles from the session, strengthen organization and leadership, and make tenacious efforts to solve prominent problems, seeing that all arrangements of the Resolution are implemented to the letter.

It was stressed that all aspects of our work agenda should be steadily advanced at the turn of the year. To fulfill this year's main goals and tasks for economic and social development and secure a good start for the 15th Five-Year Plan period, we will adhere to the general principle of pursuing progress while ensuring stability; fully and faithfully apply the new development philosophy on all fronts; move faster to foster a new pattern of development; make full and proper use of macro policies; tap deeper into the potential of domestic demand; further deepen reform and opening up; and pursue sustained and high-quality economic growth driven by innovation. In an effort to ensure security while pursuing development, we will press ahead with initiatives to see that public services are inclusive, meet essential needs, and provide a cushion for the people most in need, and deliver better results in our work related to workplace safety, disaster prevention, mitigation, and relief, food and drug safety, as well as social stability. As part of our endeavors to consolidate and expand the progress made in the study campaign on establishing and practicing the correct view of performance, we will, in the midst of a new round of elections at all levels, step up training for new members of leadership teams, particularly their heads, on the view of performance to inspire and guide them to deliver for the people through hard work in line with the requirements of serving the public good, benefiting the people, making sound decisions, and taking solid, down-to-earth actions.

The Central Committee decided at the session that the Party will convene its 21st National Congress in Beijing in the second half of 2027 and stated that this congress, which is to be held at a critical stage for basically realizing socialist modernization and on the new journey toward the Second Centenary Goal, will be a highly important meeting and an event of great political significance for both the Party and the country. The entire Party must unite and lead the Chinese people in forging ahead with one heart and one mind to achieve the goal of basically realizing socialist modernization and continue to break new ground in building a great country and advancing national rejuvenation on all fronts through Chinese modernization. With concrete actions, we will set the stage for the successful convening of this congress.

At the session, Zhang Shengmin was elected member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee.

It was decided that, in accordance with the Party Constitution, empty seats on the Central Committee were filled by alternate members Lu Dongliang, Bao Gang, Xing Shanping, Qu Yingpu, Lv Jun, Zhu Tianshu, Zhu Guoxian, Liu Jun, Liu Jie and Liu Qiang.

At the session, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection's reports on the grave violations of discipline and the law 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 were deliberated and adopted. The Central Military Commission's reports on the grave violations of discipline and the law 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 and Fang Yongxiang were also deliberated and adopted. The Political Bureau's previous decisions to expel 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 from the Party and to remove Li Yunze from his position within the Party were confirmed.

At the session, all Party members were called upon to rally more closely around the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core and fully implement Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era; forge ahead with dedication and enterprise, persevere with full and rigorous Party self-governance, and continually break new ground in supervising, governing, developing, and strengthening the Party; and unite and lead the Chinese people of all ethnic groups in a tireless effort to build China into a great modern socialist country in all respects and advance national rejuvenation on all fronts through Chinese modernization.