The 5th Annual Plenary Session of the Communist Party of China is on this week, 26-29 October.
- At this 4 day meeting ('plenum' is a fancy word for meeting) the 13th Five-Year Plan will be announced
- The 5-year plan has been downgraded a little, its now referred to as a "Guide"
The plenum will address issues such as managing local government debt, lifting household incomes, improving trade relationships and opening capital markets (China would like, for example, to have the yuan included as a reserve currency)
It will also be instructive to gauge the emphasis on continuing reform efforts against efforts at economic stimulus ... especially in the context of the sharemarket fall we have had since June
A key number that markets will be watching for (yes, boiling down 4 days of byzantine Communist Party debate and discussion into one number is what we do) will be GDP growth targets over the next 5 years. Will 'around' 7% still be the goal, or lower?
- Over the weekend, Premier Li continued with the jawboning lower of expectations for Chinese economic growth (China's Premier Li says 7% growth goal not set in stone). I don't think for a moment that was an off the cuff comment., what will be a focus is what the new number will be.