The highly anticipated Third Plenary Session of the 18th Central Committee was held in Beijing on November 9-12. The Chinese leadership had sent strong signals that this Third Plenum would be comparable to the famed Third Plenary Session of the 11th Central Committee in December 1978, which adopted reform and opening and profoundly changed China. Liberals wished for but knew they would not get any genuine political reform, but there was still hope that at least some serious economic reform measures could be adopted. In the background was the question of whether the overall thrust of the plenum would add some aura of dynamism and inspiration to Xi Jinping’s vision of the “China Dream,” reminiscent of the impact of the plenum 35 years earlier.

Read full article at www.theasanforum.org.