The 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC)

convened its fourth plenary session in Beijing from October 20 to 23, 2025.

A total of 168 members and 147 alternate members of the Central

Committee attended the session. Members of the Standing Committee of the

Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and leading officials from other

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 important

addresses.

Participants at the session listened to and discussed a report on the work

of the Political Bureau, presented on its behalf by Xi Jinping. They also

deliberated over and adopted the Recommendations of the Central

Committee of the Communist Party of China for Formulating the 15th

Five-Year Plan for National Economic and Social Development. Xi Jinping

made explanatory remarks on the draft recommendations.

At the session, the Central Committee fully affirmed the work of the

Political Bureau since the third plenary session of the 20th Central Committee.

It was unanimously agreed that the Political Bureau has secured notable

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; 1 balancing domestic and international imperatives;

ensuring both development and security; further deepening reform

comprehensively; delivering tangible results in high-quality development;

advancing socialist democracy and rule of law; improving public

communication and cultural work; ensuring the people’s wellbeing and

protecting the environment; safeguarding national security and social stability;

launching a study campaign for fully implementing the central Party

leadership’s eight-point decision on improving work conduct and 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; pursuing major-country diplomacy with Chinese

characteristics; and promoting sustained economic recovery and growth. As a

result of these efforts, China is now on the verge of accomplishing the major

objectives and tasks of the 14th Five-Year Plan. It was also noted that we had

recently commemorated the 80th anniversary of the victory in the Chinese

People’s War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression and the World

Anti-Fascist War. This occasion has greatly lifted the national spirit, inspired a

strong sense of patriotism among our people, and further pooled strength for

our country’s collective endeavors.

Participants at the session gave a positive assessment of China’s major

development achievements during the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021–2025),

which has marked a momentous and extraordinary period in our country’s

development. In the face of a complicated international landscape and the

challenging domestic tasks of advancing reform, promoting development,

and ensuring stability, the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping

at its core has united the entire Party and Chinese people of all ethnic groups

and led them in meeting difficulties head-on and forging ahead with

determination. This has allowed us to withstand the severe shocks from a

once-in-a-century Covid-19 pandemic, respond effectively to many major

risks and challenges, and secure significant new achievements in the cause of

the Party and the country. With China reaching new heights in terms of

economic strength, scientific and technological capabilities, and composite

national strength, we have made solid new strides in advancing Chinese

modernization and gotten off to a successful start on our new journey toward

the Second Centenary Goal.

It was pointed out that socialist modernization can only be realized

through a historical process of gradual and ongoing development. It requires

the unremitting hard work of one generation after another. The period

covered by the 15th Five-Year Plan will be critical in this process as we work

to reinforce the foundations and push ahead on all fronts toward basically

realizing socialist modernization by 2035. It will thus serve as a key link

between the past and the future. In this period, China’s development

environment will face profound and intricate changes.

At present, China remains in a phase of development where strategic

opportunities exist alongside risks and challenges, while uncertainties and

unforeseen factors are rising. Our economy has a solid foundation,

advantages in many areas, strong resilience, and great potential. The

conditions for and underlying trend of long-term growth remain unchanged.

More and more, we are seeing the strengths of socialism with Chinese

characteristics, China’s enormous market, its complete industrial system, and

its abundant human resources all coming to the fore.

All of us in the Party must acquire a deep understanding of the decisive

significance of establishing Comrade Xi Jinping’s core position on the Party

Central Committee and in the Party as a whole and of establishing the

guiding role of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics

for a New Era; become more conscious of the need to maintain political

integrity, think in big-picture terms, follow the leadership core, and keep in

alignment with the central Party leadership; stay confident in the path, theory,

system, and culture of socialism with Chinese characteristics; and uphold

Comrade Xi Jinping’s core position on the Party Central Committee and in the

Party as a whole and uphold the Central Committee’s authority and its

centralized, unified leadership.

We must maintain strategic resolve and enhance our confidence of

success. We must proactively identify, respond to, and steer changes,

demonstrate the courage and competence to carry forward our struggle, and

dare to brave high winds, choppy waters, and even dangerous storms. We

must seize the historical initiative to overcome difficulties, combat risks, and

confront challenges, focus on managing our own affairs, and write yet

another chapter on the miracles of rapid economic growth and long-term

social stability, opening up new horizons for Chinese modernization.

It was stressed that in pursuing economic and social development during

the 15th Five-Year Plan period, we must stay committed to

Marxism-Leninism, Mao Zedong Thought, Deng Xiaoping Theory, the Theory

of Three Represents, and the Scientific Outlook on Development, and fully

implement Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a

New Era. We must thoroughly apply the guiding principles from the Party’s

20th National Congress and the plenary sessions of the 20th Central

Committee.

We must keep focused on realizing the Second Centenary Goal of

building China into a great modern socialist country in all respects and

advancing the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation on all fronts through

Chinese modernization. We must ensure coordinated implementation of the

Five-Sphere Integrated Plan and the Four-Pronged Comprehensive Strategy.

Keeping in mind both domestic and international imperatives, we must fully

and faithfully apply the new development philosophy on all fronts, move

faster to foster a new pattern of development, and adhere to the general

principle of pursuing progress while ensuring stability.

We must continue to pursue economic development as our central task,

with high-quality development as our main focus, reform and innovation as

the fundamental driving force, meeting the people’s ever-growing needs for a

better life as our fundamental goal, and full and rigorous Party

self-governance as the fundamental underpinning for all our efforts. We must

promote higher-quality economic growth while achieving an appropriate

increase in economic output and make solid headway in promoting

well-rounded personal development and common prosperity for all. All of

this will allow us to secure decisive progress toward basically realizing

socialist modernization.

At the session, the Central Committee established the following guiding

principles for economic and social development during the 15th Five-Year

Plan period: upholding the Party’s overall leadership; putting the people first;

pursuing high-quality development; comprehensively deepening reform;

promoting both an efficient market and a well-functioning government; and

ensuring both development and security.

The Central Committee also set the following major objectives for the 15th

Five-Year Plan period: significant achievements in high-quality development;

substantial improvements in scientific and technological self-reliance and

strength; fresh breakthroughs in further deepening reform comprehensively;

notable cultural and ethical progress across society; further improvements in

quality of life; major new strides in advancing the Beautiful China Initiative;

and further advances in strengthening the national security shield. Building

on this, we will work hard for a further five years to see that by the year 2035

China’s economic strength, scientific and technological capabilities, national

defense capabilities, composite national strength, and international influence

will all be markedly stronger, that its per capita GDP will be on a par with

that of a mid-level developed country, that its people will live better and

happier lives, and that socialist modernization will be basically realized.

It was noted that we should build a modernized industrial system and

reinforce the foundations of the real economy. To this end, we should keep

our focus on the real economy, continue to pursue smart, green, and

integrated development, and work faster to boost China’s strength in

manufacturing, product quality, aerospace, transportation, and cyberspace.

The share of manufacturing in the national economy should be kept at an

appropriate level, and a modernized industrial system should be developed

with advanced manufacturing as the backbone. We should upgrade

traditional industries, foster emerging industries and industries of the future,

promote high-quality, efficient development in the service sector, and

develop a modernized infrastructure system.

It was stated that we should achieve greater self-reliance and strength in

science and technology and steer the development of new quality productive

forces. We must seize the historic opportunity presented by the new round of

technological revolution and industrial transformation to boost China’s

strength in education, science and technology, and human resources in a

well-coordinated manner. We should enhance the overall performance of

China’s innovation system, raise our innovation capacity across the board,

strive to take a leading position in scientific and technological development,

and keep fostering new quality productive forces. We should promote

advances in original innovation and breakthroughs in core technologies in

key fields, facilitate full integration between technological and industrial

innovation, pursue integrated development of education, science and

technology, and talent, and advance the Digital China Initiative.

It was noted that we should build a robust domestic market and work

faster to foster a new pattern of development. Guided by the strategy of

expanding domestic demand, we should work toward improving living

standards while increasing consumer spending and coordinate investments in

physical assets and human capital. We should see that new demand drives

new supply, that new supply helps create fresh demand, and that positive

interactions are fostered between consumption and investment and between

supply and demand. All this will help enhance the dynamism and reliability

of the domestic economy. To this end, we should boost consumption, expand

effective investment, and eliminate bottlenecks and obstacles hindering the

development of a unified national market.

It was stated that we should move faster to develop a high-standard

socialist market economy and boost the momentum for high-quality

development. We should uphold and improve China’s basic socialist

economic systems, better leverage the leading role of economic structural

reform, and improve the macroeconomic governance system. This will help

ensure steady and sustained progress in high-quality development. We

should stimulate the vitality of all market entities, work faster to improve the

institutions and mechanisms for market-based allocation of production

factors, and make macroeconomic governance more effective.

It was also stated that we should promote high-standard opening up and

create new horizons for mutually beneficial cooperation. We should continue

to expand opening up at the institutional level, safeguard the multilateral

trading system, and promote broader international economic flows. We

should advance reform and development through greater openness and seek

to share opportunities and achieve common development with the rest of the

world. We should take the initiative to open China wider, promote the

innovative development of trade, create greater space for two-way investment

cooperation, and pursue high-quality Belt and Road cooperation.

It was noted that we should accelerate agricultural and rural

modernization and take solid steps to advance all-around rural revitalization.

We must continue to place issues related to agriculture, rural areas, and rural

residents at the top of our Party’s work agenda. We need to promote

integrated urban-rural development, continue to consolidate and expand our

achievements in poverty alleviation, basically ensure modern living

conditions in rural areas, and secure faster progress in building up China’s

strength in agriculture. We should enhance the overall production capacity,

quality, and performance of agriculture, build a beautiful and harmonious

countryside for people to live and work in, and ensure that policies aimed at

strengthening agriculture, benefiting farmers, and enriching rural areas

deliver greater outcomes.

It was stated that we should refine China’s regional economic layout and

promote coordinated regional development. We should give full play to the

synergies between the coordinated regional development strategy, major

regional strategies, the functional zoning strategy, and the new urbanization

strategy, improve the distribution of major productive forces, and ensure that

key regions play their role as growth poles. Our goal is to develop a regional

economic layout and a territorial space system that enable regions to leverage

their complementary strengths in pursuit of high-quality development. We

should promote more coordinated regional development, boost

interconnected development between regions, improve the development of

territorial space, move forward with people-centered new urbanization, and

strengthen marine development, utilization, and protection.

It was noted that we should inspire the cultural creativity of our entire

nation and foster a thriving socialist culture. We must uphold the guiding role

of Marxism in the ideological domain, remain firmly rooted in the broad and

rich Chinese culture, and follow the trends of information technology. On this

basis, we should develop a socialist culture with Chinese characteristics for

the new era that has the power to guide, unite, and inspire our people and

enjoys strong international influence. Tangible steps should be taken to build

China into a country with a strong culture. We should promote and put into

practice the core socialist values, make effective moves to boost cultural

programs, accelerate the development of cultural industries, and extend the

reach and appeal of Chinese civilization.

It was stated that we should work harder to ensure and improve public

wellbeing and promote common prosperity for all. In line with the principle

of doing everything within our means, we must ensure that public services

are inclusive, meet essential needs, and provide a cushion for those most in

need, while working to resolve the pressing difficulties and problems that

concern the people most. The channels of social mobility should remain

unimpeded, and living standards should be further improved. We should

promote high-quality and full employment, refine the income distribution

system, develop education that meets the people’s expectations, improve the

social security system, and facilitate high-quality development of the real

estate sector. We should also work to advance the Healthy China Initiative,

promote high-quality population development, and take solid steps to ensure

equitable access to basic public services.

It was pointed out that we should accelerate the green transition in all

areas of economic and social development in an effort to build a Beautiful

China. We must unwaveringly uphold the principle that lucid waters and

lush mountains are invaluable assets and put it into concrete action. Guided

by our goals of achieving peak carbon emissions and carbon neutrality, we

should make concerted efforts to cut carbon emissions, reduce pollution,

pursue green development, and boost economic growth. We must reinforce

our ecological security shields and strengthen our green development drivers.

We should press ahead with the critical battle against pollution and the drive

to upgrade ecosystems, move faster to develop a new type of energy system,

work actively and prudently toward peaking carbon emissions, and accelerate

the shift to eco-friendly production practices and lifestyles.

It was noted that we should modernize China’s national security system

and capacity and advance the Peaceful China Initiative to a higher level. We

must remain steadfast in pursuing a holistic approach to national security and

follow a socialist path of social governance with Chinese characteristics to

ensure that our society is both full of vitality and in good order. We should

establish a sound national security system, build up national security capacity

in key sectors, enhance public safety governance, and improve the social

governance system.

It was also noted that we should work to achieve the centenary goals of

the People’s Liberation Army by 2027 and modernize national defense and the armed forces. We should act on Xi Jinping Thought on Strengthening the

Military and carry out the military strategy for the new era. We must ensure

that the Party exercises absolute leadership over the people’s armed forces,

and the system of ultimate responsibility resting with the chairman of the

Central Military Commission must be implemented. We are pursuing the new

three-step strategy for modernizing national defense and the armed forces.

On this basis, we should continue to enhance political loyalty in the military,

strengthen the military through reform, scientific and technological advances,

and personnel training, and run the military in accordance with the law. We

should simultaneously carry out operations, boost combat preparedness, and

enhance military capabilities, and accelerate integrated military development

through mechanization, informatization, and the application of intelligent

technologies. All this will enhance our military’s strategic capacity to defend

our national sovereignty, security, and development interests. We should

speed up the development of advanced combat capabilities, modernize

military governance, and consolidate and improve integrated national

strategies and strategic capabilities.

It was stressed that the whole Party and all Chinese people should be

united in a concerted endeavor to fulfill the 15th Five-Year Plan. We must use

the Party’s self-reform to steer social reform and stay committed to

strengthening full and rigorous Party self-governance. We should see to it

that our Party becomes better at providing political leadership and theoretical

guidance, organizing the people, and inspiring society, while also improving

its ability to lead China’s economic and social development endeavors. All

this will enable us to gather a mighty force for advancing Chinese

modernization. We must uphold and strengthen the Party Central

Committee’s centralized, unified leadership, advance socialist democracy and

rule of law, and fully mobilize the initiative, enthusiasm, and creativity of the

whole society to advance Chinese modernization. We should work for

long-term prosperity and stability in Hong Kong and Macao, promote the

peaceful development of relations across the Taiwan Strait and advance the

cause of national reunification, and secure further progress in building a

community with a shared future for humanity.

It was pointed out that studying and implementing the guiding principles

from this plenary session represent a major political task for the entire Party

and nation both at present and in the period to come. We must employ a

variety of means to organize study activities, instruction lectures, and

communication initiatives, so as to make sure that the whole Party and

society acquire a thorough understanding of the session’s guiding principles.

In effectively implementing these principles, we must stay firmly committed

to high-quality development, step up efforts to foster a new development

pattern, make solid strides toward delivering prosperity for all, better ensure

both development and security, and coordinate our economic development

endeavors with work in all other spheres. This will ensure that we lay a solid

foundation for basically realizing socialist modernization.

It was stressed that to run the country well, we must first run the Party

well; only a Party that is thriving can make our country strong. The more

effective our Party is in supervising and governing itself, the better it will be

able to provide guarantees for our economic and social development. We

must have the resolve and tenacity to persist in the always ongoing endeavor

of Party self-governance. In exercising full and rigorous self-governance, we

must firmly act on the Party’s requirements for self-reform, devote sustained

and consistent efforts to improving conduct, and combat corruption

resolutely, thereby providing a strong guarantee for fulfilling the major

objectives for economic and social development in the 15th Five-Year Plan

period.

Participants at the session carried out an analysis of the present situation

and the tasks we face. It was highlighted that we must remain firmly focused

on accomplishing this year’s targets for economic and social development. To

this end, we must continue to implement the decisions and plans of the

Central Committee through targeted efforts. We must work to stabilize

employment, enterprise operations, markets, and expectations and keep the

fundamentals of the economy stable, so as to consolidate and strengthen the

momentum for economic recovery and growth. We should ensure that our

macro policies continue to play an effective role and intensify their

implementation as necessary. We should fully implement assistance policies

for enterprises, press ahead with special initiatives to boost consumption,

guarantee the three priorities including people’s basic wellbeing, payment of

salaries, and normal government functioning at the primary level, and defuse

local government debt risks through active and prudent measures.

It was noted that we should take concrete steps to safeguard the people’s

wellbeing and unlock potential through multiple channels. We should devote

greater efforts to stabilizing and expanding employment, while promoting

stable employment for key groups. We should ramp up efforts to address

wage arrears, improve basic public services, and work harder to resolve the

pressing difficulties and problems that concern the people most. We must do

a good job in post-disaster recovery and reconstruction. Appropriate

arrangements should be made for disaster victims to ensure that their basic

living needs are met and that they have warm shelter for the winter.

It was emphasized that we must ensure workplace safety and safeguard

stability. We must make sure that all responsibilities concerning workplace

safety are fulfilled and that oversight systems are rigorously implemented,

and we must work with firm resolve to prevent and mitigate major and

serious accidents. We should strengthen whole-of-chain supervision and

administration of food and drug safety. We should intensify efforts to

investigate and resolve disputes and conflicts, take a holistic approach to

ensuring law and order, and crack down on illegal and criminal activities of

all types in accordance with the law. Furthermore, we should improve public

opinion guidance and effectively prevent and defuse risks in the ideological

domain.

At the session, Zhang Shengmin was added as Vice Chairman of the

Central Military Commission.

It was decided that, in accordance with the Party Constitution, empty

seats on the Central Committee will be filled by alternate members Yu

Huiwen, Ma Hancheng, Wang Jian, Wang Xi, Wang Yonghong, Wang Tingkai,

Wang Xinwei, Wei Tao, Deng Yiwu, Deng Xiuming, and Lu Hong.

At the session, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection’s reports

on the grave violations of Party discipline and state laws involving Tang

Renjian, Jin Xiangjun, Li Shisong, Yang Fasen, and Zhu Zhisong were

deliberated and adopted. The Central Military Commission’s inspection

reports on the grave violations of Party discipline and state laws involving He

Weidong, Miao Hua, He Hongjun, Wang Xiubin, Lin Xiangyang, Qin Shutong,

Yuan Huazhi, Wang Chunning, and Zhang Fengzhong were also deliberated

and adopted. The Political Bureau’s previous decisions to expel these people

from the Party were confirmed.

At the session, a call was issued to the whole Party, the entire military,

and Chinese people of all ethnic groups to rally more closely around the Party

Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core, work hard together

toward 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.