BEIJING: Chinese leaders began a four-day secret meeting yesterday to set a reform agenda for the next decade as they try to push more sustainable growth after three decades of breakneck expansion.
However, analysts have cautioned against expectations for big changes as they say stability remains the watchword for the leadership.
President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang must unleash new growth drivers as the world’s second-largest economy loses steam, burdened by industrial overcapacity, piles of debt and soaring house prices.
The meeting — held under tight security at a Soviet-era hotel in western Beijing — will show just how committed the new leadership is to reform after formally taking power in March.
Economic reforms will dominate the meeting of the 205-member Central Committee of China s ruling Communist Party. Little if any news will be released during the event, but official news agency Xinhua traditionally issues a dispatch on the last day.
Xinhua confirmed in an English-language dispatch that the meeting had begun, with the agenda led by a discussion over a draft document on deepening reform, which pools the wisdom of the whole Party and from all aspects.
It added: Comprehensively deepening reform means the reform will be more systematic, integrated and coordinated. It gave no other details.
Some media reports have said top policymakers could take bold steps to deal with entrenched vested interests, such as state monopolies.
The Development Research Centre, a think-tank for China s cabinet, set out last month eight key areas for reform at the plenum — finance, taxation, land, state assets, social welfare, innovation, foreign investment and governance.
These are just recommendations. There is still strong opposition to the proposed reforms, a source with ties to the leadership said, requesting anonymity.
Reuters
