President Jiang Zemin scored a political victory yesterday by mobilising the Central Committee to rally behind him in endorsing a series of decisions he made on the party's construction.
The endorsement was contained in a communique issued at the end of a three-day meeting of the Central Committee in Beijing.
No major personnel issues were discussed at the meeting. The only appointment announced was Tang Honggao, president of the University of Science and Technology of China, being elevated to the Central Committee. It also expelled two former provincial leaders for corruption.
The meeting - the sixth plenum of the 15th Central Committee of the Communist Party - focused almost exclusively on 'building the party's work style' - jargon for polishing the party's image.
It made no reference to the tense situation in Afghanistan nor to the slumping world economy.
Instead, Xinhua said the meeting 'spoke highly' of a speech by the President on July 1 celebrating the 80th anniversary of the Communist Party in which he opened the doors for capitalists to join the ruling party. Mr Jiang is also the General Secretary of the Communist Party.
The plenum's communique contained a thinly veiled criticism of party conservatives opposed to Mr Jiang's decision to admit the rich and wealthy.