3rd Plenum set for July 15-18
3rd Plenum set for July 15-18
Official readout says a key document, to be the outcome of the Third Plenary Session, has been drafted and circulated and will be further amended.
The official readout of today’s meeeting of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee just came out, saying
The Third Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China will be held in Beijing from July 15 to 18
The "Decision of the CPC Central Committee on Further Comprehensive Deepening of Reform and Advancing Chinese-style Modernization" has been circulated for input in and out of the CPC, was discussed at today’s meeting, and will be further revised. It will be then be submitted to the Third Plenary Session for discussion and adoption, which will be the key outcome document of the 3rd Plenum.
The CPC has and will continue to exercise full leadership and control of the formulation of the measures laid out in key document, and their implementation.
Measures in the key document will reflect “that reforms respond to the people's demands and rely on the people, and sharing the fruits of reform with the people.” Coupled with public information so far, this is the strongest hint that some of the measures will benefit the people perhaps in a more direct way.
There will be changes “keeping pace with the times, adapting to practical development, focusing on problem-solving.” In other words, measures in response to the mounting challenges that China’s economy is facing now.
There will be “theoretical innovations” but we don’t know what at this moment. In China, past theoretical innovations of the CPC include, for example, establishing the “socialist market system” in November 1993 at the Third Plenary Session of the 14th Central Commitee of CPC. Before that, the official theory of the CPC was that China’s economy should be an “economy with state planning on the basis of public ownership.” The change in the language is regarded in China as a “theoretical innovation.”
In another example, the Third Plenary Session of the 18th Central Committee in 2013 concludes that “enable the market to play a 决定性 decisive role in resource allocation and enable the government to play a better role,” whereas before that the official theory had been to enable the market to play a “基础性 fundamental role”. This is the so-called theoretical innovations and the CPC views these changes seriously.
It will be interesting to see whether the authorities will change or adopt new language on the roles of the market and government in the economy differently, or the roles of the private companies and state-owned enterprises in China’s economy differently, or something else.
The key document will “reinforces fundamental institutions, improves basic systems, and innovates important systems.” “improve” and “innovate” certainly indicates changes. But again we don’t know what will change and how they will be changed at this point.
The key document will ensure “that major reforms have a legal basis and promptly elevating reform achievements to legal systems.” It suggests that some laws, which are part of the State of the People’s Republic of China rather than of the CPC, will likely be adopted following the key document. Again, no details at the moment. But a few draft legislations on taxes, such as VAT, consumption tax, and others had already been put in the pipeline.
The readout says there will be balanace between “government and market, efficiency and fairness, vitality and order, development and security.”
On the 4th point of “respond(ing) to the people's demands…and sharing the fruits of reform with the people,” as I’ve covered in Pekingnology’s ongoing series of “3rd Plenum Pulse: What to Expect,” there have been public calls from influential government advisors to subsidize migrant workers, provide incentives and support for birth and child care, and enhance social security such as pension and healthcare. That would essentially require the Beijing to take a leap of faith to aid the Chinese people not in the way it used to, such as building high-speed rail and high-quality roads or helping companies which will trickle down to the masses, but in a more direct way.
Below is a full translation of the official readout.
中共中央政治局召开会议 讨论拟提请二十届三中全会审议的文件 中共中央总书记习近平主持会议
The Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee Holds Meeting to Discuss Documents to be Submitted for Review at the 20th Central Committee's Third Plenary Session. Xi Jinping, General Secretary of the CPC Central Committee, presides over the meeting.
Beijing, June 27 (Xinhua) — The Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee held a meeting on June 27 to discuss further comprehensive deepening of reform and advancing Chinese-style modernization. General Secretary Xi Jinping presided over the meeting.
The meeting decided that the Third Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China will be held in Beijing from July 15 to 18. The Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee heard a report on the feedback from within and outside the Party on the draft "Decision of the CPC Central Committee on Further Comprehensive Deepening of Reform and Advancing Chinese-style Modernization." It was decided that, based on the opinions discussed in this meeting, the document draft would be revised and then submitted for review at the Third Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee.
The meeting pointed out that the consultation process fully promoted intra-Party democracy and gathered wide-ranging insights. Various regions, departments, and sectors have given full recognition to the draft decision, believing that it deeply analyzes the new situations and problems faced in advancing Chinese-style modernization. The draft decision scientifically plans the overall layout for further comprehensive deepening of reform around Chinese-style modernization. The document is a guiding programmatic text for further comprehensive deepening of reform on the new journey, fully reflecting the historical initiative of the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core to improve and develop the socialist system with Chinese characteristics and advance the modernization of the national governance system and capacity. It demonstrates the firm determination to open up broad prospects for Chinese-style modernization through further comprehensive deepening of reform.
The meeting emphasized that the overall goal of further comprehensive deepening of reform is to continue improving and developing the socialist system with Chinese characteristics and advancing the modernization of the national governance system and capacity. By 2035, a high-level socialist market economy system will be fully established, the socialist system with Chinese characteristics will be more complete, the modernization of the national governance system and capacity will be basically achieved, and socialist modernization will be basically realized, laying a solid foundation for building a great modern socialist country by the middle of this century.
The meeting pointed out that further comprehensive deepening of reform must summarize and utilize the valuable experience gained since the reform and opening up, especially in the New Era, and adhere to the following principles: uphold the comprehensive leadership of the Party, firmly maintain the authority and centralized unified leadership of the CPC Central Committee, and play the core leadership role of the Party in overseeing the overall situation and coordinating all parties. This ensures that the Party's leadership is incorporated into all aspects and stages of reform, guiding reform in the correct political direction. It insists on a people-centered approach, respecting the principal position and innovative spirit of the people, ensuring that reforms respond to the people's demands and rely on the people, and sharing the fruits of reform with the people. It emphasizes innovation while upholding fundamental principles, staying true to socialism with Chinese characteristics, keeping pace with the times, adapting to practical development, focusing on problem-solving, and advancing theoretical, practical, institutional, cultural, and other innovations from a new starting point. It prioritizes institutional building, strengthens top-level design and overall planning, integrates establishment and abolition, and reinforces fundamental institutions, improves basic systems, and innovates important systems. It adheres to comprehensive law-based governance, advancing reform and Chinese-style modernization within the framework of the rule of law, ensuring that major reforms have a legal basis and promptly elevating reform achievements to legal systems. It adheres to a systematic approach, properly handling major relationships such as between the economy and society, government and market, efficiency and fairness, vitality and order, development and security, enhancing the systematic, holistic, and coordinated nature of reforms.
The meeting stressed that the Party's leadership is the fundamental guarantee for further comprehensive deepening of reform and advancing Chinese-style modernization. It is essential to adhere to the centralized and unified leadership of the CPC Central Committee over further comprehensive deepening of reform, maintain a high degree of self-awareness in leading social revolutions through the Party's self-revolution, manage the Party with a reform spirit, implement reform with a tenacious spirit, and transform the strategic deployment of further comprehensive deepening of reform into a powerful force for advancing Chinese-style modernization.
The meeting also discussed other matters.
