Xi Jinping’s Anti-Corruption Drive Under Scrutiny as China’s Top Leaders Gather for Fifth Plenum

As China’s ruling Communist Party convenes its fifth plenum this week, President Xi Jinping’s sweeping anti-corruption campaign is drawing renewed attention from analysts and party insiders alike. Since taking power in 2012, Xi has made rooting out graft a signature policy, and the pace of investigations shows no sign of slowing. Last year alone, China’s disciplinary authorities opened probes into more than one million people, including over 100 officials at the ministerial or provincial level. The sheer scale has prompted debate among China watchers about whether the crackdown is truly about corruption or about enforcing loyalty to Xi’s leadership. With discipline and party unity high on the plenum’s agenda, the outcomes could signal how the party plans to manage internal dissent and governance challenges ahead. For now, the message from Beijing remains clear: no one is above scrutiny.