The Communist Party of China (CPC) has said the upcoming Third Plenary Session of its current 20th Central Committee will focus on “deepening comprehensive reform to advance Chinese modernisation.” Officially, the reform agenda will only be unveiled at the Third Plenum. But that doesn’t mean there are zero signals in public before it happens.

Today, I’m focusing on an article by Han Wenxiu, the ministerial-level official whose title is executive deputy director of the Office of the Central Financial and Economic Affairs, available today (Sunday, June 16) in the latest Qiushi/Seek Truth, the flagship journal of the CPC Central Committee.

The reason is simple: a minister whose job is to help craft China’s economic and financial policies laying out six areas of potential reforms one month ahead of the Third Plenum, which will focus on reforms, in the most authoritative journal of the governing party.

It is also positioned at a prominent position in this issue of Qiushi/Seek Truth, as it follows an article by the General Secretary and an editorial by Qiushi/Seek Truth, and above other ministers’ contribution.

In the last newsletter, I shared Tsinghua Professor David Daokui Li’s public claim that Beijing has finally come around to the conclusion that domestic consumption is the key to stimulating domestic demand.

In the telling Han Wenxiu, who is apparently closer to decision-making, potential policy moves on the demand side flagged by Li, did feature as the fifth point out of six. However, the supply side still features prominently as the first point.

Han’s article employs a lot of Beijing’s official language that is broad and difficult to digest without significant background knowledge of China’s policy-making. More effectively, the six areas may be used as a framework to gauge which specific policy move could fit into each of the six areas.

Below are excerpts from:

Promoting High-Quality Development via Deepening Reforms

Adhering to the Main Tasks of Promoting High-Quality Development through Deepening Reform

In the new era and on the new journey, promoting high-quality development is a profound transformation that concerns the overall development of our country. It is necessary to fully, accurately, and comprehensively implement the new development concept, accelerate the construction of a new development pattern, and make good use of the crucial move of reform and opening up to effectively enhance the quality and achieve reasonable growth in quantity in the economy.

(1) Deepening Reform in the Systems and Mechanisms for Education, Science, Technology, and Talent, Promoting Innovative Development, and Accelerating the Construction of a Modern Industrial System

…We must accelerate the construction of a high-quality education system, strengthen the independent cultivation of high-quality talent, and actively attract, retain, and make good use of top overseas talent. Deepen the reform of the scientific and technological system, improve the new system for mobilising resources nationwide to make key technological breakthroughs, strengthen the national strategic scientific and technological force, and optimise the allocation of innovation resources. Strengthen the position of enterprises as the main body of scientific and technological innovation, and promote deep integration of industry, academia, and research. Deepen the reform of the talent system and mechanism, and cultivate a large number of high-quality talents with both moral integrity and professional........

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