The Politburo met on Friday, December 8, to discuss economic policy, Party discipline and anti-corruption, and the Party's revised Regulations on Disciplinary Actions.

Third Plenum

Still no words from the Politburo on the Third Plenum.

The Politburo may not even have discussed the matter at the meeting. The meeting readout did not contain the line "[the Politburo] also considered other matters," indicating that only the topics reported in the readout were discussed. Most Politburo meeting readouts contain this line to suggest that some matters discussed were not made public.

It looks like the Third Plenum will be pushed to next year, most likely in late January or February after the Chinese New Year holiday period (February 9 to 15).

Note that Central Committee plenums usually don't overlap with the Chinese New Year period. The only exception was the Fourth Plenum of the Seventh Central Committee in 1954 (resulting in the downfall of Gao Gang and Rao Shushi).

A late-December Third Plenum is possible but highly unlikely, given the packed schedule.

For more on the upcoming Third Plenum, including how unusual it is to not hold the Third Plenum in October or November, and what it may tell us about:

Politburo Meeting: November 27, 2023

The Politburo met on Monday, November 27. Two documents were discussed during the meeting: * Opinions on Certain Policies and Measures to Further Promote the High-Quality Development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt (关于进一步推动长江经济带高质量发展若干政策措施的意见); and * Communist Party of China Regulations on the Party’s Leadership of External Work (中国共产党领导外事工作条例). The meeting readout

China NeicanAdam Ni

Significance of a Late Third Plenum

The Communist Party has not yet announced the Central Committee Third Plenum dates. The Politburo was silent on the matter at its latest meeting on November 27. The “Third Plenum” refers to the third meeting of the full Central Committee, the elite body elected every five years by the Party

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Economic Policy

The Politburo meets every December to review the economic policy work of the past year and set the direction for the next year.

This sets the tone for the annual Central Economic Work Conference (中央经济工作会议), a gathering of China's top economic policymakers. This conference would confirm China's economic policy direction and priorities for the following year, in this case, 2024.

On the economic situation, the Politburo assesses that China's post-COVID economic "recovery is gathering speed" (回升向好).