The Fourth Plenary Session of the 20th CPC Central Committee in Beijing takes place in October 2025

 Direct translation

Chaos reigns within Zhongnanhai; the Fourth Plenum is set for October

Reporter : Li Enzhen  /Editors: Li Quan, Zhongkang / Source : NTDTV / https://www.aboluowang.com/2025/0730/2255124.html / Image : Internal strife within the top leadership of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is becoming increasingly intense. (Image: Schematic diagram). (Mark Schiefelbein-Pool/Getty Images)

Various phenomena are emerging within the CCP officialdom, and the internal divisions within the top leadership have become public. On 30 July 2025, the CCP officially announced that the Fourth Plenary Session of the 20th CPC Central Committee will be held in Beijing this October.

According to Xinhua News Agency, the official Chinese media outlet, the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee held a meeting on 30 July 2025, deciding to hold the Fourth Plenary Session of the 20th CPC Central Committee in Beijing in October. The main agenda included the Political Bureau's work report to the Central Committee and the discussion of proposals for the so-called "15th Five-Year Plan."

The report stated that the meeting analyzed the current economic situation and laid out economic work for the second half of the year. The meeting acknowledged that China's economic operations still face numerous risks and challenges. Other matters were also discussed.

Originally scheduled for the autumn of 2024, the Fourth Plenary Session of the 20th CPC Central Committee, after being postponed for a full year, has finally been confirmed to be held this autumn, sparking public attention.

Political commentator Yue Shan told NTD that the CCP will finally hold its Fourth Plenary Session in October, effectively a year's delay due to internal and external crises. While this meeting is presented as an economic forum, it is essentially a political one, and information about internal purges, such as the Miao Hua and He Weidong cases, and even the handling of a number of senior officials, will undoubtedly be revealed around this time.

Yue Shan believes that the rumors of internal struggles within the CCP leadership can offer some clues as to whether they can be confirmed. Whether there will be a sudden change or a struggle without a break remains to be seen. With the CCP's top leaders collectively retreating to Beidaihe, the outcome of these struggles and compromises may be crucial.

During the 13 years of CCP leader Xi Jinping's rule, China's economy has continued to decline, with large amounts of foreign capital withdrawing, the real estate market facing a collapse, high unemployment, sluggish consumption, and a slump in all sectors. In particular, the three-year "dynamic zero-emission" policy, personally directed by Xi, has severely damaged the Chinese economy and fueled public resentment.

Furthermore, infighting within the CCP leadership has intensified. After the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC), a large number of high-ranking Party, government, and military officials resigned or disappeared. Most notably, Xi Jinping's close associates, Foreign Minister Qin Gang and General Miao Hua, Director of the Central Military Commission's Political Work Department, both stepped down. After this year's Two Sessions, Vice Chairman of the Central Military Commission, He Weidong, has been missing ever since.

The bizarre shifts in the CCP's political landscape have also drawn public attention.

In June, independent commentator Du Zheng published an article in Taiwanese media, revealing that he had received information from a prominent anti-Xi politician in Beijing, who urged everyone to wait and see, saying that changes would occur in the fall, with signs becoming apparent by October. Another person, the son of a deceased retired senior military officer, said, "The Beijing officialdom has been very unusual recently," but declined to elaborate.

On 16 July 2025, the Hudson Institute, a prominent Washington, D.C., think tank, published a report titled "China After Communism: Preparing for the Post-CCP Era," authored by its director, Yu Maochun. The report emphasizes that the CCP's collapse is not a question of "if," but "when." Most frighteningly, it will not be a gradual collapse, but could happen suddenly, overnight. The report argues that while the Chinese Communist regime has weathered crises before, its sudden collapse is not impossible, and preparation is needed.

Retired U.S. Air Force General Blaine Holt previously warned in Newsweek that the CCP is on the verge of collapse, and Xi Jinping could become its final ruler.