Asia Communique
China’s Fourth Plenum: personnel shake‑ups, budgets and priorities for the 15th Five‑Year Plan
Hello Readers,
The 20th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) concluded its fourth plenary session on 23 October 2025 after four days of meetings in Beijing. The plenum was a pivotal event because it came less than two years before the 20th Party Congress sets a new leadership team and because it adopted the “Recommendations for the 15th Five‑Year Plan (FYP)”. The plan will guide economic and social development during 2026‑2030 and bridge the period to the 2035 goal of “basic socialist modernization.”
The meeting also doubled as a personnel management session, confirming a wave of removals and promotions resulting from the largest military purge in decades. Below is a detailed rundown of the main outcomes, budgets and personnel changes.