BEIJING: The Communist Party of China (CPC) will convene, on July 15 in Beijing, the third plenary session of its 20th central committee, which will primarily examine issues related to further comprehensively deepening reform and advancing Chinese modernization, according to a Thursday meeting of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee chaired by Xi Jinping, general secretary of the CPC Central Committee.
The critical meeting, often referred to as the third plenum in its shortened form, is expected to draw a road map for China’s continuously deepening reforms for years to come. Coming at a time marked by changes unseen in a century and complex international and domestic situations, the plenum will offer a clear path for the country’s pursuit of high-quality development and ultimately Chinese modernization, experts said.
Given the increasingly crucial role China plays on the global stage, the third plenum will also draw attention from around the world. China’s efforts to further comprehensively deepen reform and expand high-level opening-up will create greater opportunities for the world and inject the much-needed impetus into a troubled world economy, experts noted.
According to a meeting of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, the third plenum will run from July 15 to July 18. The Political Bureau meeting decided to submit a draft decision on further comprehensively deepening reform and advancing Chinese modernization to the plenum for deliberation, according to the Xinhua News Agency.
The draft has thoroughly analyzed the new situations and problems in advancing Chinese modernization and scientifically planned the overall arrangements for further deepening reforms, according to the Political Bureau meeting. Political Bureau members were briefed on comments on the draft, which were solicited from both within and outside the CPC, and the draft will be updated after discussions at the meeting, Xinhua reported.
The third plenum is widely considered one of the most important events in China’s political agenda and is usually focused on various aspects of reform in the country. The third plenary session of the 11th Central Committee in 1978, for example, was an epoch-making event that ushered in the new period of reform, opening-up and socialist modernization that underpinned China’s economic miracle and rapid rise on the global stage over the past several decades.
The third plenary session of the 18th Central Committee held in 2013 was also of epoch-making significance, as it marked the beginning of a new stage in China’s reform and opening-up that underpinned China’s high-quality development over the past several years despite complex international and domestic situations.
In 2023, China’s GDP growth exceeded 126 trillion yuan ($17.3 trillion), up from about 59 trillion yuan in 2013, and a mere 367.9 billion yuan in 1978, the year that marked the start of China’s decades-long reform and opening-up.
