PROVIDING STABILITY IN AN UNSTABLE WORLD.docVIP

PROVIDING STABILITY IN AN UNSTABLE WORLD 　　The annual plenums of the Communist Party of China （CPC） Central Committee have become， in recent years， the moments when former strategies are reviewed and new policy initiatives are announced. They have acquired a thematic rhythm since 2013， with each plenum dealing with a specific set of issues. 　　In 2013， questions on marketization and stimulating reform were addressed. In 2014， the focus shifted to legal reform and the creation of more certainty and predictability through the rule of law in the commercial realm. In 2015， the main issue concerned the launch of the 13th Five-Year Plan （2016-20）， with its macroeconomic narrative for China traveling toward achieving the first of the Two Centennial Goals―the delivery of middle-income status by 2021. 　　The year 2016 marks a moment in a pathway of transition. It is the start of a yearlong process toward the 19th CPC National Congress， where there will be leadership changes， the issuance of new strategic notices， and the review and consolidation of Party ideas and policy. The congresses， held every five years， are the most important event in Party building and development. The upcoming one will set out the core parameters of the all-important march to 2021. 　　The major themes of this year’s plenum are to review and then take forward the anticorruption struggle and to address issues of equity and efficiency. These are partly focused on internal issues and partly dependent on the external situation. 　　 Anti-corruption drive 　　This anti-corruption drive has been ongoing since 2013 as one of the key pillars of Xi Jinping’s presidency， attracting headlines around the world owing to the number of highlevel targets，and its extensiveness and length. Since 1978， there has never been such a long campaign of this type. Investigators have moved from state sector companies to government ministries and provincial governments and up to the very top of the Party itself， into the Cen