The reception came as Xi and other senior Politburo members stepped out of the spotlight for a few days. State broadcaster CCTV has continued to report on their directives or calls with foreign leaders in daily news bulletins, but it offered no hints about the leaders’ whereabouts.

Routine government and policy activities are expected to slow during the break. On Monday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs suspended its daily press conference for two weeks.

Security has been tightened in Qinhuangdao, the city in Hebei province where Beidaihe is located. From July to the end of August, all civilian drones are banned in the city, according to notices from the municipal government office – another sign that the gathering is taking place.

The report on Cai’s reception was the first public record of the Beidaihe gathering since 2019, as the Covid-19 pandemic disrupted the annual closed-door political gathering and increased the risks of travel.

Beidaihe was once known for intense power jockeying among Communist Party figures and became a place where policy direction was decided after Mao Zedong set up a “summer office” there for officials in the 1950s.

Leaders historically solicited opinions from party elders at Beidaihe and later conveyed their views during policymaking meetings after they had returned to the capital.

Historic decisions made at the retreat include the launch of the Great Leap Forward and Mao’s move to shell the Kuomintang outpost of Quemoy island, also called Kinmen, in 1958.

But the significance of the meeting has ebbed in recent years as Xi has sought to shift the party away from collective governance and consolidate his power.