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 Congress.

Since 1993, all third plenums, with the exception of the one in 2018, have all been convened in October or November (around a full year after the Party Congress).

This time around, the Third Plenum is late. And we still don't know how late it will be.

What is the significance of a late Third Plenum?

A late Third Plenum tells us two things about the inner workings of the Party establishment...