With the stock market in no man’s land today on what the weekend’s Chinese Plenum detail portend, here are some more links for you to figure it out for yourself, from Sinocsim:
授权发布：中共中央关于全面深化改革若干重大问题的决定-时政频道-新华网 Full text of the Third Plenum Decision, no full English translation, official or unofficial, online yet
习近平：关于《中共中央关于全面深化改革若干重大问题的决定》的说明-高层动态-新华网 Xi Jinping’s companion explanation of the Decision
Third Plenary Session of the 18th Communist Party of China Central Committee–Xinhua site with all the official english releases so far on the Plenum
学习贯彻党的十八届三中全会精神–专题报道–人民网 Peoples Daily Online special site for the Third Plenum…everything official you would want about the Decision
Xi, in ‘Godfather’ Mold, Looks Assertive and Even Imperial – NYTimes.com Chris Buckley and the New York Times have owned the Third plenum coverage, from Hong Kong // Xiao Gongqin, one of China’s most prominent proponents of “neo-authoritarianism,” thinks Mr. Xi is very a good thing: a new incarnation of his idea of a model leader, Deng Xiaoping. Professor Xiao, who reaches history at Shanghai Normal University, attracted fame, and controversy, in the late 1980s for arguing that China needed a pro-market strongman to extinguish political opposition while shepherding the country into economic modernity. Mr. Xi absorbed that “neo-authoritarian” idea by consciously imitating Mr. Deng, the party patriarch who oversaw the economic reforms of the 1980s, Professor Xiao said in a telephone interview.
Large and In Charge – By Arthur Kroeber | Foreign Policy There is plenty of evidence Xi has an ambitious agenda for reforming China’s economic and governance structures, and the will and political craft to achieve many of his aims. His program may not satisfy market fundamentalists, and he certainly offers no hope for those who would like to see China become more democratic. But it is likely to be effective in sustaining the nation’s economic growth, and enabling the Communist Party to keep a comfortable grip on power.–Arthur Kroeber is the Beijing-based managing director of Gavekal Dragonomics,
China Announces Sweeping Reform Agenda at Plenum | Center for Strategic and International Studies good read from Christopher Johnson // Based on the vague official communique released at the plenum’s closing, most initial media commentary quickly pronounced the meeting disappointing—if not a total failure—causing markets to punish Chinese stocks. But the new leadership team proved these judgments to be premature with the release on November 15 of a comprehensive blueprint containing the most sweeping reform proposals in decades. The bold reform package is a powerful demonstration of President Xi Jinping’s personal authority within the system after only a year at the helm of the CCP.
Sweeping changes needed to tackle graft in China, say analysts | South China Morning Post The party’s Central Committee resolved at its four-day plenum last week to give the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) broader authority over ministries, state agencies and regional governments. It would also make permanent key elements of party chief Xi Jinping’s ongoing anti-graft campaign: basing inspection teams in central agencies and party offices and routinely sending task forces to state-owned enterprises and provincial and local governments.//keep hearing many more people have been detained in the corruption crackdown than has been publicly disclosed
Success of Chinese Leader’s Ambitious Economic Plan May Rest on Rural Regions – NYTimes.com China’s Communist Party has burnished President Xi Jinping’s plans for an economic overhaul with exultant propaganda about a historic turning point. But the success of his proposals, and the long-term health of the Chinese economy, could rest on policy battles reaching down into thousands of towns and villages over land, money and a misshapen fiscal system that has bred public discontent and financial hazards.//and massive corruption…more than a few local government officials, even village heads, have fortunes that a Swiss HNW banker would/already does drool over.
《新世纪》周刊第578期_杂志频道_财新网 cover package of this week’s Caixin Magazine is on the Third Plenum Decision and what it means for China
吴敬琏：《决定》的精髓与挑战_经济频道_财新网 Caixin interviews Wu Jinglian for his reactions to the Plenum Decision. Very interesting // 这位经历了改革35年全过程的经济学家告诉财新记者，他已经反复读了几遍《中共中央关于全面深化改革若干重大问题的决定》（下称《决定》）。《决定》的主要亮点，在他看来主要是“纲”，其中关于经济改革有两句话最重要：一句是“紧紧围绕使市场在资源配置中起决定性作用深化经济体制改革”，另一句话是“建设统一开放、竞争有序的市场体系，是使市场在资源配置中起决定性作用的基础”。就是说，体制基础是统一开放、竞争有序的市场，如果没有这个制度基础，其他话是白说，“叫基础性作用也好，叫决定性作用也好，都起不到作用。”
中国改革“2.0版”全面启动的划时代意义-新华网 Xinhua on “Reform 2.0″ // 《决定》深刻剖析了我国改革发展稳定面临的重大理论和实践问题，阐明了全面深化改革的重大意义和未来走向，形成了改革理论和政策的一系列新的重大突破，是全面深化改革的又一次总部署、总动员，必将对推动中国特色社会主义事业发展产生重大而深远的影响。 十八届三中全会，不仅中国人民关心，更令世界为之瞩目。“划时代的意义”、“转折点”、“新里程碑”等是诸多外媒报道三中全会时选择的关键词。从正式播发的《决定》来看，这些赞誉绝非虚言。我们相信，中国改革开放的新航程即将起步，“春天的故事”就要写出新的篇章。
图解决定10大看点_十八届三中全会_网易专题 nice netease infographic on ten key points in third plenum decision
Reform in China: The party’s new blueprint | The Economist Mr Xi will have to battle a deep resistance to change among state-owned enterprises, local governments, and even an urban middle class that likes his notion of “social fairness” but does not want to see its own privileges eroded by the granting of equal access to healthcare and education to migrants from the countryside. As the resolution rightly said, reforms have entered “deep water”.
Xi Jinping expounds security commission role – Xinhua the official English translation has shifted from state security commission” to “national security commission” it appears// The main responsibilities of the national security commission will include construction of the rule of law system concerning state security, research, resolving major issues of national security, setting principles and policies, as well as stipulating and implementing strategies, according to the explanation. “State security and social stability are preconditions for reform and development”, said Xi in the explanation, adding that only when the nation is safe and society is stable, could reform and development constantly advance. China is facing two pressures: internationally, the country needs to safeguard its sovereignty, security and development interests; domestically, political security and social stability should be ensured. The variety of predictable and unpredictable risks has been increasing remarkably, and the system has not yet met the needs of safeguarding state security. A powerful platform which can coordinate security works is needed, he said.
Xinhua Insight: Rural reform, step by step – Xinhua The biggest barrier is land registration, without which the land market cannot function. A survey of 1,791 farmers across 17 provincial regions by Landesa in 2011, said only around 36.7 percent of the households have both documents — contracts and land-rights certificates — as required by law and policy, among which less than half contain all the legally required information and can be considered strictly law-compliant. According to China’s No.1 central document announced earlier this year, the government aims to complete the registration of management rights of contractual land in five years. Until that work is completed, the rural land transfers as experimented in some areas in Guangdong and Anhui is unlikely to be rolled out nationwide, analysts said.
CPC emphasizes social governance to tackle conflicts – Xinhua | English.news.cn ”It’s notable that the vitality of social organizations was mentioned in the reform framework,” said Chi Fulin, president of the Hainan-based China Institute for Reform and Development. “It signals the breakthrough in China’s social transformation.”
China to optimize army size, structure: CPC decision – Xinhua According to the decision, the CPC Central Committee called for innovation in military theory, strengthening military leadership, improving military strategy in the new era, and building a modern military power system with Chinese characteristics. The decision also vowed to deepen reform and adjustment of military system and establishments, promote reform and adjustment of military policy system, and promote army-civilian integration.
Cleaning Up: China Reform Plan Tackles Pollution – China Real Time Report – WSJ China said it wants to introduce a system that will lead to more compensation for environmental damage. The country will gradually introduce a tax for the use of almost every natural resource, and the fees are aimed at those who exploit, damage and pollute the country’s natural resources. Those who cause environmental damage may also be held “criminally responsible,” it said. The document’s emphasis on using markets to combat pollution appears to reflect wider thinking among current party leaders that liberalizing markets can solve many of the country’s economic problems
CPC orders crackdown on Internet crimes – Xinhua China will improve the mechanism set for preventing and cracking down on crimes related to the Internet and better handle emergencies in cyberspace in order to form an online public opinion that is positively guided and administrated in accordance with the law, according to the full text of the decision issued by the CPC. The decision was approved at the Third Plenary Session of the 18th CPC Central Committee that closed on Tuesday. While actively popularizing the Internet, China will reinforce its overall administration over cyberspace in accordance with the law and accelerate formation of a sound Internet management system to ensure national Internet and information security, the decision said. The nation will also institutionalize releases of news and raise the occupational standards for practising as a qualified journalist, it said.// part of the original Chinese: 全会决定提出坚持积极利用、科学发展、依法管理、确保安全的方针，加大依法管理网络力度，完善互联网管理领导体制。目的是整合相关机构职能，形成从技术到内容、从日常安全到打击犯罪的互联网管理合力，确保网络正确运用和安全。
New China Reform Plan Calls for Tighter Internet Control, ‘Public Opinion Guidance’ – China Real Time Report – WSJ “Following the increasing power of online media, Internet media and industry management has lagged far behind the quick changes that have come with its development. In particular [we] face the rapid growth of social networking and instant communication tools, like Weike and WeChat, which disseminate information rapidly, have a large influence and broad coverage, and have a strong ability to mobilize society,” the explanation in part reads.
Xi Jinping: China Is Open for Business to Foreign Investors as Part of Reform Plans – China Real Time Report – WSJ the Shanghai Free Trade Zone got a shout-out, and – curiously – praised as a “major advance by the party.” Authorities have offered little detail about how the Shanghai zone is going to work. In particular, expectations that the zone would be used by regulators as an incubator for financial reform have so far gone unrealized. One of the few concessions allows foreign companies to invest in any industry they like within the zone, without regulatory approval, as long as it isn’t on a list of excluded industries. The list – known as the negative list – is currently so long that much of what’s off limits in the rest of China is also off-limits inside the zone. Still, the blueprint says that other places will also be allowed to set up free trade zones, something cities have already been clamoring for.
China’s New Agenda – NYTimes Editorial Chinese leaders have used similar meetings of top officials to outline major policy changes that are then fleshed out over the next several years. The leadership has not always succeeded in delivering on those promises. The previous regime led by President Hu Jintao, for instance, failed to reduce the economy’s unhealthy dependence on exports and investment and give greater emphasis to consumer spending. But if carried through, some of the initiatives outlined in the latest meeting could significantly improve the lives of Chinese people.
