China concluded its four-day Third Plenary Session of the Central Committee of the CPC, or Third Plenum, on July 18 and issued an extensive communiqué indicating the decisions taken. There were 199 Central Committee members attending the conference and 165 alternates. Other officials attended, but in a non-voting capacity.
The “Third Plenum” of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China is held every five years and the discussion is always focused on the economy. It was at the Third Plenum in 1978 that Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping issued the important call for “reform and opening up.” There was little coverage at the plenum itself during the days it was held, although there was intense coverage in the Chinese media about the issues that were being discussed.
The 13-page communiqué covers quite at length the myriad questions that were being raised, about the continued opening up to foreign investors, the need for fiscal reform, enhancing national security, etc. But the primary focus was on establishing a system of science and education that would lead to the rapid growth in new discoveries in science and their rapid implementation as innovation in the Chinese economy.
While the emphasis on science and technology as a key driver in propelling China from poverty to prosperity was also emphasized in the 1978 Plenum, the policy is now on steroids. Given the increasingly aversive environment created around China by U.S. sanctions and tariffs, and the attempt to create new supply chains away from China, the thrust on science, and particularly, on scientific discovery, has become paramount in China’s strategy to prevent such sabotage.
