Ahead of Communist Party plenum, Xi Jinping warns that China faces a ‘new Long March’

The fifth plenum is a prominent meeting of the Communist Party's 20th Central Committee. The Central Committee is the party's top political-executive organ. Its importance comes from the issues expected to dominate it: tighter party governance, internal discipline and political loyalty. It is also a setting where senior leaders reinforce political priorities.

The meeting takes place after Xi Jinping linked party unity to the Red Army's survival during the Long March. He presented strong central leadership as a decisive factor in overcoming division and outside pressure. That historical message gives the meeting a clear political context.

The plenum is scheduled for October 26 to 29 in Beijing. The 205-member Central Committee has faced unprecedented anti-corruption scrutiny, with 35 full members investigated or stripped of legislative seats, according to the article's cited calculations. The gathering therefore signals continued emphasis on discipline and loyalty.

The Long March was a strategic retreat by the Communist Red Army during China's civil war. From 1934 to 1936, its forces travelled about 10,000 kilometres to evade Nationalist forces. It was not simply a military movement in party memory. It became a story about survival during an extremely dangerous period.

Xi highlighted the 1935 Zunyi Conference as a turning point. He said the party began forming a central leadership with Mao Zedong at its core. In his account, this helped the party independently solve problems and saved the party, the Red Army and the revolution at a perilous hour.

The Communist Party continues commemorating the march because it presents the event as proof that political unity and disciplined leadership can overcome internal divisions and external obstacles. At the 90th-anniversary event, museums and local authorities held exhibitions, rallies and educational activities, extending that historical message to today's challenges.

Xi uses “new Long March” as a historical comparison for China's current national project. He defines it as the journey toward becoming a fully modernised socialist power and achieving the “great rejuvenation” of the Chinese nation through Chinese modernisation. The phrase turns a development strategy into a test of endurance and political resolve.

The comparison works because the original march represented survival under pressure. Xi said today's party, military and public must learn to navigate complex geopolitical pitfalls and fight for China's interests. He urged them to withstand “high winds, raging waves and even dangerous storms.”

The immediate context is a period of global turmoil and friction with Western powers. The article cites trade disputes, technology decoupling pressures and strategic volatility around Taiwan and the South China Sea. Xi's message implies that development must be balanced with national security, self-reliance and internal solidarity.

The original Long March was enormous by any measure: the Communist Red Army travelled about 10,000 kilometres, or 6,200 miles, between 1934 and 1936. It was a strategic retreat intended to evade Nationalist forces during China's civil war. The distance helps explain why the event became associated with endurance.

The article also gives a striking figure about today's leadership body. The Central Committee has 205 members, and 35 full members have either been placed under investigation or stripped of their legislative seats. The South China Morning Post's calculations cited in the article describe this as unprecedented anti-corruption scrutiny.

Together, these figures show the contrast between historical commemoration and current political pressure. Xi's speech celebrates unity as the basis of survival, while the forthcoming fifth plenum is expected to focus on governance, discipline and loyalty. The scale of the past and the scrutiny of the present reinforce the leadership's message.

Xi's central message is that a strong leadership core is not optional. He said the Red Army's survival and eventual victory depended on correct party leadership, especially after the 1935 Zunyi Conference. By presenting this as an “indispensable” historical lesson, he argues that unity around the party's core remains vital today.

The timing makes the message especially pointed. He spoke days before the fifth plenum, which is expected to examine party governance, internal discipline and political loyalty. State media echoed the argument, calling authority around the party's core a fundamental guarantee for stability, reform and modernisation.

The political signal is therefore one of consolidation. Xi is urging the party, military and public to prepare for external headwinds while maintaining internal solidarity. The message also supports absolute party control over the military and greater combat readiness. In practical terms, the coming meeting is framed around reinforcing cohesion rather than tolerating political division.

If the party tightens discipline and demands greater loyalty, domestic governance could become more closely centred on political control, internal unity and compliance with central priorities. The fifth plenum is expected to focus on governance and discipline, while state media calls a strong core a guarantee of stability and reform. These are the stated goals of the approach.

The mechanism is clear in the article's message. Leaders connect political cohesion with the ability to manage economic reform, national development and security threats. The PLA Daily also urges absolute party control over the military and stronger combat readiness. That links domestic discipline to defence planning.

Foreign policy could therefore become more focused on self-reliance, national security and resistance to outside pressure. Xi warns of tensions with Western powers and urges the country to fight for its interests. However, the article does not specify particular future diplomatic or military actions, so these are implications of the stated direction, not confirmed outcomes.

China's one-party system allows the Communist Party to connect major areas of national power through a single political chain of authority. In the article, party leadership is presented as the basis for political stability, economic reform, military control and national modernisation. This makes development and security part of one coordinated strategy rather than separate political agendas.

The mechanism appears in the party's institutions and messaging. The Central Committee is described as the party's top political-executive organ. The PLA Daily calls for absolute party control over the armed forces, while Xi urges the party, military and public to prepare together for external pressure. State media links the party's core with reform and modernisation.

The article presents this structure as a way to maintain unity during geopolitical turmoil. It also shows the costs and pressures of that model: the leadership is emphasising discipline and loyalty, and 35 of 205 full Central Committee members faced anti-corruption action. The system therefore joins strategy, command and political accountability closely.