Amendments to party constitution approved The Communist Party elite ended a four-day plenum yesterday, giving their blessing to political documents that will strengthen President Hu Jintao's grip on power and endorsing a decision to expel the former Shanghai party boss from the party. At the end of the seventh plenum of the 16th Central Committee, party leaders also agreed on the preparations for the 17th National Congress, to be held next week. According to Xinhua, the plenum announced that the Central Committee had endorsed a decision by the Politburo in July to expel Chen Liangyu for alleged corruption and causing substantial financial losses to the state over the management of Shanghai's social security fund. Also kicked out of the party was Du Shicheng , former party secretary of Qingdao , who was accused of accepting millions of yuan of bribes. The Central Committee approved proposed amendments to the party constitution. A communique issued yesterday did not spell out what changes would be made, but it was expected that the amendments would include writing sustainable development and social harmony - two of Mr Hu's governing philosophies - into the party's constitution. The move will add Mr Hu's name to the pantheon of Chinese Communist leaders, a place alongside revolutionary leaders Mao Zedong and Deng Xiaoping , and Mr Hu's predecessor Jiang Zemin . The 16th National Congress in 2002 approved an amendment cementing Mr Jiang's legacy by adding his Theory of the Three Represents to the party constitution. In the communique issued yesterday, the plenum lavishly praised achievements made by the party in the past five years. It also said that Hong Kong and Macau remained prosperous and stable, and the central government had strengthened its work on Taiwan. 'These five years have been an extraordinary five years,' the communique said. The leadership under Mr Hu had 'vanquished all kinds of hardships and dangers, and advanced the work of the party and the government to achieve major new successes', it said. Alongside the plenum, the Communist Party's anti-corruption watchdog - the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection - held a two-day meeting. At the end of its meeting, the watchdog issued a report branding the 61-year-old former Shanghai party boss 'morally decadent' and called him a 'philanderer' who 'traded power for sex' - a reference to Chen's extramarital affairs. The report did not spell out punishment Chen would face, but the decision by the Central Committee completed a formal procedure for the former Shanghai party secretary to be put on trial. The commission warned yesterday that corruption remained a serious threat. 'We must also see clearly that negative corruption phenomena remain quite serious and the situation of fighting corruption and promoting clean government remains grave,' the commission said. 'We must fully recognise the long-term, complicated and difficult nature of the fight against corruption.' According to Xinhua, the plenum endorsed a political report to be delivered by Mr Hu next week at the national congress. More than 2,000 delegates will attend the Congress at the Great Hall of People. In addition to affirming on the political reports, the delegates will also vote on a new leadership.
