|
China's new leadership holds a key meeting this weekend that state media are trumpeting as a likely "watershed" for economic reform, but analysts caution details of its decisions are likely to be vague and implementation gradual. The four-day session of the full 376-strong Communist Party Central Committee begins Saturday at a closely guarded private hotel in Beijing. Known as the Third Plenum, it traditionally sets the economic tone for a government's five-year term. In the past, such meetings have been used to signal far-reaching changes in how China does business, and state-run media say that anticipation has been building. The official Xinhua news agency proclaimed that the plenum "is expected to be a watershed as drastic economic policies will be unveiled". Other reports have singled out land reform as a key issue, while a government think-tank called for dismantling the residency registration system known as hukou, which restricts access to medical insurance and other benefits for migrants. Cai Hongbin, a professor at Peking University's Guanghua School of Management, said key issues such as urbanisation, the social safety net, taxation and financial reforms would be discussed. "Historically, China has implemented ground-breaking reforms when the economy has faced some serious challenges," Nomura International economists in Hong Kong wrote in a report. | 
