Four major issues to be discussed at the upcoming Fifth Plenary session of the 18th Communist Party Central Committee

[Bowen Press Service Exclusive] The Fifth Plenary Session of the 18th Communist Party Central Committee will be held later this month. This news service has learned that in addition to the issues that the outside world is well aware of and concerned about—economic and personnel issues—there are two lesser known issues: a summary of national cadre investigations and a briefing on the military reform program and its implementation. It’s reported that the personnel issues addressed at the meeting may once again involve leading cadres, especially senior cadres being “demoted.”

An informed source in the Communist Party leadership revealed that after Party Secretary Xi Jinping returned from his trip to the United States in late September, he turned his attention to preparations for the Fifth Plenum meeting. Xi will visit England on Tuesday October 20, and the Fifth Plenary Session will be held October 26-29. The officially announced agenda of the Fifth Plenary Session is that the Politburo will deliver a work report to the Central Committee on the 13th Five-Year Plan’s focus on national economic and social development.

What has not been officially announced, but is another major topic of the Fifth Plenary Session, will be the announcement of the removal from the Central Committee of former Director of the General Office of the Communist Party and head of the United Front Work Department Ling Jihua. On July 20, 2015 Ling Jihua was expelled as a Communist Party member and, on suspicion of the crime of accepting bribes, was formally arrested. The Fifth Plenary Session will also retroactively recognize the decision to expel from the Party Chen Chuanping (former Taiyuan Party Secretary), Wang Min (former Jinan Party Secretary), Zhu Mingguo (former Guangdong Commission for Discipline Inspection Party Secretary).

Last year more Central Committee members were sacked, including Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region Vice-Chairman Pan Yiyang, Nanjing Municipal Party Secretary Yang Weize, Lanzhou Military Region Deputy Political Commissar Lieutenant-General Fan Changmi, Yunnan Vice-Governor Chou He, and Nanning Municipal Party Secretary Yu Yuanhui. All five of these officials were alternate members of the Central Committee. At present the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection is still investigating their cases, they have not been sentenced yet. Perhaps it won’t be until the Sixth Plenum that their Party punishment will be handed down.

According to sources, the third major issue the Fifth Plenary Session will focus on is the investigation of all Party cadres. This is part of the elimination of the influence and remaining confederates of Zhou Yongkang, Ling Jihua, Xu Caihou, and Guo Boxiong in the Party and military. This work is being carried out by the Party’s Central Organization Department and the PLA’s General Political Department. The emphasis is on institutionally cleansing the ranks of Party cadres, especially middle and high-ranking cadres.

The fourth issue that will be focused on at the Fifth Plenary Session is the implementation of the military reform program, a major event involving the whole army and country. A special focus will be on the demobilization of 300,000 military personnel, which requires the close coordination of localities to implement. It’s reported that during the plenum the General Secretary and Military Commission vice-chairmen will address the whole Central Committee and the alternates representing the military to confirm all the military reform requirements and a timetable.