What’s new: China’s Politburo, the Communist Party’s top decision-making body, discussed a set of new regulations aimed at strengthening the party’s control over the country’s foreign affairs at a meeting chaired by President Xi Jinping on Monday, state media reported.
The regulations, the full text of which has yet to be released, “are of great significance to the sound implementation of the policies, principles and strategic plans made by the CPC Central Committee on external affairs,” the Politburo said at the meeting, according to the official Xinhua News Agency.
The Politburo emphasized the need to “further strengthen the centralized and unified leadership” of the Central Committee over foreign affairs and called for accelerated efforts to create a sound system of foreign-related laws and regulations, Xinhua reported.
The background: The discussions come as the Communist Party of China (CPC) has repeatedly emphasized its grip over foreign affairs, including in a recently passed foreign relations law, amid concerns over national security.
In 2018, the Central Committee issued a five-year plan for the formulation of party regulations, which for the first time mentioned such foreign affairs regulations as it highlighted the party’s “leadership in all work,” according to Xinhua.
Forming regulation for the party’s leadership over foreign affairs was also included in the party’s latest plan for the 2023-2027 period, according to a Xinhua report in April. The Central Committee said the regulations would also help China “maintain and shape a favorable external environment,” the report said.
Contact reporter Wang Xintong (xintongwang@caixin.com) and editor Jonathan Breen (jonathanbreen@caixin.com)
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