This event is part of the China Chronicles - a series that explores the rise of China as a global player along multiple axes: political, diplomatic, economic, social, and cultural. It aims to provoke a wider and more nuanced debate in India on the implications of a rising China and its impacts across the wider world.
The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) recently concluded the Third Plenum of the 20th Party Congress. This year's plenum was particularly significant considering China's domestic economic challenges and deteriorating relations with the West, especially the United States. Key discussion topics at the recently concluded conclave included advanced manufacturing, debt risks, the property crisis, domestic consumption, and the role of the private sector. However, the plenum did not limit itself to discussing only the economy, instead national security, domestic governance and geopolitics emerged as predominant themes in the event. Therefore, decoding the Third Plenum of the 20th Party Congress is crucial to discern the future trajectory of China's politics and economy. How did the CPC look at the fusion of China’s economy with governance, national security and geopolitics during the plenum? What concrete steps does China intend to take, to base its economy on domestic consumption, address growing income inequality and ensure rural regions are not discriminated against? Will the CPC acknowledge its role in the economic slowdown and enact potentially unpopular macroeconomic reforms to ensure its political legitimacy? What are China’s aims for capacity development, especially in strategic emerging industries and how do they envision the role of state-owned enterprises? How will the Third Plenum shape China’s relationships with major economies especially the United States, the European Union, and India, when non-tariff barriers, export controls, sanctions and pushbacks are in the vogue?
