China’s third plenum: Xi Jinping tells party to show ‘unwavering faith’ in reform plan

Official messaging suggests there will be no major changes in the country’s economic strategy despite growing challenges at home and abroad

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State media has hailed Xi Jinping as a “thoroughbred reformer”. Photo: AFP

Published: 6:00am, 17 Jul 2024Updated: 5:58pm, 18 Jul 2024

Chinese President Xi Jinping – hailed by official media as a “supreme reformist” – has told the Communist Party to show “unwavering faith and commitment” to his grand strategy even as international investment banks cut their forecast for China’s growth.

The party’s elite Central Committee is currently in the middle of the third plenum, a key policy meeting that will determine the country’s development plan for the next five to 10 years.

The gathering in Beijing is being held against the backdrop of an increasingly complex and challenging environment at home and abroad.

On Monday the country released weaker-than-expected growth figures for the year’s first half, prompting some investment banks, including Goldman Sachs, to cut their annual growth forecast for the world’s second-largest economy.

Elsewhere, the prospect of Donald Trump returning to the White House has raised concerns that Washington will adopt a more hawkish policy towards China at a time when the European Union is also stepping up the pressure on Beijing.

As Xi prepared to deliver a work report behind closed doors, the party’s leading theoretical journal Qiushi published a rallying cry by the Chinese leader on Tuesday under the headline “Maintaining Self-Confidence and Self-Reliance”.