Five Things We Learned About China’s Economy at Xi's Policy Summit

China’s annual gathering of leaders that started in Beijing this week unleashed a flurry of policy initiatives, key among them a shift that puts fiscal policy decisively at the forefront of measures to shore up growth.

Among other important changes was a ramped up focus on reining in hidden debt, an intensification of the drive to get more funding to private companies, and more evidence that President Xi Jinping’s plan to dominate future industries is very much alive. There also were indications that China is unlikely to make big concessions during trade negotiations with the U.S.