What to Expect From the Third Plenum, China’s Big Policy Meeting
- Technology, land reform and fiscal revamp may be on the cards
- But expectations are low for any major policy pivot: analysts
The Chinese Communist Party’s top ranks gather this month for one of the country’s biggest annual policy meetings, with everything from chip technology to land reform and a revamp to the nation’s biggest tax source possibly on the cards. What isn’t expected is the kind of major policy pivot that’s often been seen in the past.
The so-called Third Plenum gathers some 400 government bigwigs, military chiefs, provincial bosses and academics in Beijing to steer the political and economic course. But investors this year have low expectations for the kind of Big Bang reforms that would revive market sentiment. A slew of official readouts, articles and state media editorials over the past weeks suggest instead a reinforcement of President Xi Jinping’s long-term goals.