EXPERT COMMENT
Last week's plenum was light on substance, but even if the CCP had been clearer about its intentions, we might still be none the wiser about the direction of policy.
When trying to understand China's economy, it's worth remembering that the gulf between what Chinese policymakers say and what they do can be vast. Let's call that a ‘Type 1 problem'. But sometimes they just don't say very much at all, and this one might call a ‘Type 2 problem'.
Last week's third plenum, a five-yearly top-level meeting which on occasion has delivered important signals of Beijing's grand economic strategy, served up a Type 2 problem. Unless you attribute a great deal of significance to Beijing's ‘Five-Sphere Integrated Plan' or the ‘Four-Pronged Comprehensive Strategy', the plenum's communique was long on slogans and short on substance.
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