Though China's leadership succession was completed earlier this year, the policy agenda for the coming decade has only just been revealed. Following Chinese political tradition, the country's new leadership had to wait for the Third Plenum of the Chinese Communist Party's 18th Central Committee — held three to four quarters after the First Plenum, where the succession was sealed — to unveil its economic-policy priorities.
Third Plenums — and perhaps only Third Plenums — can bring about radical transformation. Indeed, it was at the Third Plenum of the CCP's 11th Central Committee that Deng Xiaoping launched the reforms that opened up the Chinese economy and triggered more than three decades of rapid economic growth.
The Third Plenums of the CCP's 14th and 16th Central Committees — held in 1993 and 2003, respectively — also stand out. At both meetings, CCP leaders put forward comprehensive plans for the creation and perfection of the so-called "socialist market economy" in China.