Chinese Communist Party decides to tighten internal discipline

China's ruling Communist Party has decided to further tighten discipline within its organization. The decision came at the fifth plenary session of the party's Central Committee, held in Beijing on Thursday under the leadership of President Xi Jinping.

According to the Xinhua news agency, the decision also covers controlling corruption among party cadres, though detailed measures have not been made public.

The official statement from the meeting said the party has curbed unhealthy tendencies that had long gone unchecked and removed serious hidden threats within the party, the state and the military.

The party's Central Committee has about 300 members, but eight seats were vacant ahead of the meeting. Thousands of officials, including dozens of Central Committee members, have been removed from their posts during the nearly 14-year anti-corruption campaign Xi has run.

For this reason, this year's meeting reportedly saw the lowest attendance since 1976. The plenum promoted anti-corruption chief and Central Military Commission vice-chairman Zhang Shengmin to the Politburo, the country's top decision-making body, bringing its membership to 22.

The official statement did not grant Xi the title of "people's leader." Steve Tsang, director of the SOAS China Institute, told AFP that the meeting should be read as preparation for Xi's next term ahead of the party's 21st National Congress next year.