Xi stays the course amid rising calls for change

Chinese President Xi Jinping has laid out his vision for China’s economic and social future – and it places Xi Jinping at the very center.

Having cemented his political legacy at the 20th Chinese Communist Party Congress in October 2022 by being confirmed leader until at least 2027, the “chairman of everything” has now set out how he sees the next few years going.

The road map was discussed at the important third plenum that took place July 15-18, 2024. To China watchers like myself, the plenum – which brings together party leaders to discuss great matters of state and economy – gives key insights on the current thinking in Beijing as to where the country sees itself now and where it wants to be.

The plenum is accompanied by an official communique and then a more detailed “decision” distributed days after the meeting.

Xi at the wheel

Often the plenums are decisive in setting out new directions – take, for example, the 1978 meeting that heralded the end of the disastrous Cultural Revolution and the beginning of Deng Xiaoping’s opening up of China.

This latest plenum was a far cry from such a pivotal moment. In fact, it offered little new in terms of the actual policy. But what it did do was confirm that Xi sees no need to deviate from the course he has set out, or to change the driver behind the wheel.

The decision document circulated on July 21 made clear Xi’s desire for authoritarian political control, albeit tempered with a populist approach to some of the issues facing China.

The plenum’s decision is primarily a political document aimed at rallying the party faithful behind Xi and his preference for a heavily centralized, state-run economy. There were no signs that Xi has any intention of significant reform in the