Communist Party Starts Key Meeting In Beijing

Chinese Communist Party elite kicked off a key meeting in Beijing on Monday, as the country's leadership faces pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong, a protracted trade war, and a slowing economy.

The Fourth Plenum of the Party's Central Committee is a closed-door meeting of high-ranking officials where the country's roadmap and future direction is discussed.

One of the main themes this week will be "upholding and improving" China's system of governance and advancing its "modernisation", said official news agency Xinhua.

The term governance is about "strengthening the Party's control over all governing organs," explained Jude Blanchette, an expert on Chinese politics at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS).

The likely outcome of this week's meetings "will be that the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) is more firmly entrenched at the core of political and governing power", he wrote on Friday.

Hua Po, a Beijing-based political analyst, said the Fourth Plenum may also result in a document that criticises past policies by former leader Deng Xiaoping – known for his market-oriented economic reforms – to elevate Xi's own status.

It is a practice that Chinese leaders, including the country's founder Mao Zedong, have carried out so past policies fall in line with their own principles, he added.

The key conclave will run from Monday to Thursday in Beijing, and will be the first since February 2018.

This week's conclave will also end a significant delay between sessions – the longest hiatus since 1977, according to CSIS experts – as the CCP's constitution mandates at least one plenum per year.

But analysts say it is unlikely the delay is due to opposition to Xi within the Party.

The Chinese leader's power was on full display just a few weeks ago during a massive military parade commemorating 70 years of Communist Party rule, pointed out Blanchette.

"Since the Third Plenum, Xi has convened two extraordinary meetings of all the top Party, State and Military leaders," wrote Bill Bishop, publisher of the Sinocism China Newsletter, last week.

The ability to call such high-profile meetings reflects Xi's power and authority, he added. (AFP)