China's four-day "Fourth Plenum" where country leaders are working to map out the country's economic priorities over the next five years.

Beijing

Chinese President Xi Jinping and senior policymakers are convening to develop China's latest five-year economic plan, which will guide priorities from 2026 to 2030. The plan is expected to emphasize advanced manufacturing and emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence, semiconductors, robotics, and new energy, reinforcing China's ambition to become a global leader in these sectors.

While the government has prioritized technological innovation, there are indications that the new plan may also address lagging domestic consumption. Recent economic data show weak private investment and only modest consumption growth, prompting expectations that the plan could include policies to stimulate household spending. Economists believe further economic stimulus is unlikely in the short term, as growth targets are being closely monitored.

Chinese leaders meet to create latest five-year economic plan

Rare is just one part of the trade war here with China, as China looks to minimize the impact. Chinese President Xi, meeting with his country's top policymakers, looking to make a road map for the next five years. Eunice Yun in Beijing and joins us with more on that story. So, what are you hearing, Eunice? Well, Sarah, this meeting is called the Fourth Plenum. And over the next four years, Xi Jinping and other policymakers are going to be mapping out the economic priorities for 2026 until 2030. And it probably comes as no surprise to investors that the likely focus is going to be on advanced manufacturing, as well as new technologies, such as AI, semiconductors, robotics, as well as new energy. Now, this is a reassertion of what we already know, that the Xi Jinping administration's primary goal is to turn China into a global tech player, and really dominating globally these technologies. In addition to that, of course, the leadership wants these technologies and tech innovation to promote the economy. However, in the past few years, I would say, we have also seen that the Xi Jinping administration hasn't really been paying as much attention to policies that would promote everything else, such as consumption. And that was showing up in some of the economic data that we had today. The FAI, for example, contracted. Private investment is down. Consumption met expectations, but these were very low expectations. And there is an expectation and a belief that some of acknowledgment is going to be had in the five-year plan of this issue. There's a belief that a policy platform could be in place to try to encourage more household consumption. And there's some speculation that this means that we could see some targets set at a local level for consumption growth. Guys? Eunice, there's been some who argue that Xi has already started removing some stimulus to the economy to let it sort of slowly decelerate going into these tougher discussions. Can you talk about to what level the government is supporting activity? Well, the government has been supporting some activity. We have seen that over the past couple of years, I would say. But, yes, these have been in fits and starts. And I haven't heard that he would be rolling back a stimulus, but there's definitely a belief at this point from many economists that, at least for the rest of this year, we probably won't see much more stimulus. And part of that is because the Q3 number came in at 4.8 percent. That was a little bit slower than Q2. And because the overall economic growth target is 5 percent, people are saying likely the government is going to hold back. Okay, Eunice, thank you. Eunice Yun.

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