Revisions to Chinese constitution will be key task for top cadres at plenum
President Xi Jinping’s political theory is to be added, source in Beijing confirms
A closed-door meeting of the Communist Party’s most powerful cadres begins on Thursday to discuss revisions to the constitution that include the addition of President Xi Jinping’s political theory.
It will be the second full meeting of around 400 party elites from the Central Committee following a major reshuffle at the party congress in October.
The second plenum normally sets the tone for the upcoming National People’s Congress, when the new president, premier and other top cabinet figures will be formally named. This time, the two-day meeting will focus on the proposal to revise the constitution, according to a Politburo statement announcing the date of the meeting carried by Xinhua on Friday.
It is also being held a month earlier than usual, and it was unclear whether there would be a third plenum ahead of the NPC parliamentary session, which is usually held in March.
Next week’s meeting will discuss making the first amendments to the constitution for 14 years, which will then be endorsed by the NPC.
“The fact the Central Committee has decided to hold a plenum to specifically discuss these revisions to the constitution shows that it does not see making amendments to the country’s supreme law as a matter to be taken lightly,” the statement said, without giving details of the revisions.