What’s new: The Chinese Communist Party will hold a key policy meeting in July, a highly anticipated gathering for the country’s leaders to set out reform agenda, the official Xinhua News Agency reported.
The third plenum of the party’s 20th Central Committee will “primarily study issues concerning further comprehensively deepening reform and advancing Chinese modernization,” according to Xinhua.
The schedule of the plenary session was announced at a regular monthly meeting of the Politburo, China’s top decision-making body, chaired by President Xi Jinping, Xinhua said. An exact date for the plenum was not given.
The context: The party’s plenary sessions are important events in China’s political calendar, bringing nearly 400 state leaders together to discuss key policy issues.
The Central Committee is elected for a five-year term and usually holds seven plenary sessions during that time. The agenda for each session tends to have a fixed focus. The first session is usually responsible for electing the new central leadership, the second discusses personnel issues for state agencies, while the third and fourth make major decisions on economic reform and national policies. The fifth session puts forward suggestions for the next five-year plan. The sixth and seventh usually focus on party building and preparation for the next Party Congress.
The 20th Central Committee was elected in October 2022.
Contact reporter Han Wei (weihan@caixin.com)
