Xi Opens Low-Turnout Party Session

President Xi Jinping started a four-day meeting on Monday to tighten control over the Chinese Communist Party. The session is the fifth plenum, a closed-door gathering attended by about 300 members of the party's Central Committee. Xi is using the meeting to demand greater loyalty from officials while continuing his long-running anticorruption efforts.

The timing of the session comes about a year before Xi is expected to win a fourth five-year term as party leader. It also precedes expected changes in key leadership positions. Analysts view the plenum as a way for Xi to ensure that new leaders align with his vision for China's future.

Ruby Osman, a senior policy adviser at the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change in London, told The Associated Press that the meeting allows Xi to shape the views of rising officials. She noted that previous plenums have helped him solidify his authority within the party structure.

Xi has led a 14-year campaign against corruption that has removed thousands of officials, including dozens of current committee members. In a speech published by state media this week, he criticized officials who appear to follow orders but resist internally. He described them as politically opportunistic and driven by individualism.

China's Xinhua news agency reported that the committee is discussing a draft policy decision on full and rigorous party self-governance. The goal is to make officials more disciplined and effective. Neil Thomas, a senior fellow at the Asia Society Policy Institute, expects the group to call for closer scrutiny of public spending and wider use of technology to find corruption.

The anticorruption drive has significantly reduced the number of committee members in attendance. Eight Central Committee seats are currently vacant. Another 15 members are under investigation and may be replaced before the session ends. This marks the lowest turnout since the death of former leader Mao Zedong in 1976.

The purges have also affected the military branch of the party. Five of the seven members of the Central Military Commission have been removed. The plenum may bring new appointments to that body, and Xi could restructure how the party controls the armed forces. These political moves occur while China deals with weak domestic spending and a property sector crisis.