The decision was made at a meeting of the Politburo, the party’s 24-man decision-making body, on Tuesday, where members highlighted the ferocity of international competition and risks “lurking in key areas” of the economy.
The Politburo said the country needed to advance reforms and gain a strategic advantage against those overseas competitors.
“The complexity, severity and uncertainty of the external environment have spiked,” it said, according to a statement released by state news agency Xinhua.
Domestic social and economic policy must be coordinated, with the focus on tangible results, it said.
“Many businesses are under greater operating pressure … We will support private enterprises to tap into overseas markets while dialling up efforts to attract and leverage foreign investment.”
The government should expedite the issuance of ultra-long-term special bonds while also ensuring that provinces, cities and counties facing high debt risks unwind their debt burden.
Xi Jinping hypes up obstacle-crushing reforms for China amid third-plenum buzz
Xi Jinping hypes up obstacle-crushing reforms for China amid third-plenum buzz
In terms of the agenda for the July plenum, the statement said only that the Central Committee would discuss “further comprehensive reforms” and pushing forward “Chinese modernisation”.
It will be attended by the 376 full and alternate members of the new Central Committee.
Investors at home and abroad will be looking to the meeting for signs of whether China will switch its priority from security back to economic development with clear policies in areas such as the housing market, fiscal reform and financial regulation.
Over the past four decades, third plenums have typically been held in October or November, and it is the first time since 1984 that the party has not convened one in the year following the twice-a-decade party congress.
Two decades later, the Central Committee under President Xi Jinping endorsed an ambitious economic reform agenda based on the principle of granting market forces the “decisive role” in resource allocation – a goal that has yet to be fully realised across China’s state-dominated economy.
The plenum is also typically a venue for announcing progress in investigations into senior officials.