Jail terms, confessions and anti-graft TV ... how China ensures a trouble-free top Communist Party meeting

Eight disgraced senior party ­officials were thrown behind bars and more made high-profile ­confessions on state television in the Communist Party’s effort to build momentum for a key four-day meeting that ends on Thursday.

The sixth plenum – the Communist Party Central Committee’s most important meeting ahead of next year’s major leadership reshuffle – is focused on ­imposing stricter rules and codes of conduct on cadres, especially senior officials.

Since the dates of the plenum were officially announced at a Politburo meeting in late September, the party has spared no effort in preparing the political and public atmosphere ahead of the meeting.

Analysts said such moves aimed to further establish President Xi Jinping’s authority and discourage any attempts by the meeting’s participants to challenge the consensus on plenum issues.

In the past three weeks, eight former ministerial-level officials have received prison sentences in quick succession. This is the most intense sentencing flurry of ­“tigers” – or high-ranking officials – since Xi launched his harsh anti-corruption campaign nearly four years ago.