Editor’s Note: Every Wednesday, WPR contributor Lavender Au and Newsletter and Engagement Editor Benjamin Wilhelm curate the week’s top news and expert analysis on China. Subscribers can adjust their newsletter settings to receive China Note by email every week.
Last week, the Communist Party’s Central Committee held one of the most important events on China’s political calendar, meeting for its fifth plenum. From Oct. 26 to 29, the conclave of senior party officials discussed the blueprint of the country’s 14th five-year plan and set out long-range objectives for 2035.
Those who are tracking policy aims that have been set out under leader Xi Jinping will see many familiar objectives laid out in the plenum’s communiqué, which points to the structure of the upcoming five-year plan. Innovation and self-reliance in science and technology are first and foremost, followed by advanced manufacturing, rural reform, cultural soft power, international cooperation and military modernization.