One year after the unprecedented appointments and reshuffles of the 20th Chinese Communist Party Congress, China watchers are still pondering the magnitude of issues facing China’s sputtering economy.
This comes after Qin Gang, former Ambassador to the US and impending Minister of Foreign Affairs, was withdrawn from the international scene post-June 25th, allegedly due to an extramarital affair. This, and the similarly unexplained disappearance of the previously powerful General Li Shangfu in mid-September, has shifted the focus of China watchers toward the delay in announcing the 20th PCC’s Third Party Plenum. Plenums from 1978 to the most recent in October 2017 have set the tone for economic reforms and announced significant measures in the conduct of domestic policies.
Jean-Pierre Cabestan and Jean-François Di Meglio will delve into questions arising from the ever-opaque management of the Party itself. As the Third Belt and Road Summit takes place in Beijing, they will assess the potential consequences of these unexpected developments, placing them into the current perspective of China’s positioning at a crucial crossroads: “releasing political and economic pressure post-Covid” versus the temptation of a more inward-looking political line.
This event has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon Europe research and innovation programme under grant agreement number 101061700.
[Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them].