Xi opens Party plenum on governance

President Xi Jinping opened the fifth plenary session of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) in Beijing on Monday. Xi, who is also general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, delivered a work report on behalf of the Politburo and explained a draft decision by the Central Committee on major issues concerning strengthening Party self-governance. The draft decision summarises the achievements and experience of full and rigorous Party self-governance in the new era in a truth-seeking manner, and offers in-depth analysis of the situation and tasks concerning Party building at present and for the future. It also sets out strategic plans for strengthening full and rigorous Party self-governance with perseverance, according to a Politburo meeting in September that submitted the document to the plenum for review. The plenary session will last till Thursday. The fifth plenum comes ahead of a major Party congress next year, where Xi is expected to oversee a leadership reshuffle. State media published an article ahead of the gathering, based on a speech Xi gave in January in which he railed against "two-faced" officials who appear to comply with central directives but "inwardly resist", pursue "individualism" and are "politically opportunistic". (Xinhua/AFP) Edited by Edmond Fong