China’s Fourth Plenum took place last month, from October 20 to 23, 2025, in Beijing, to review, deliberate, adopt policies, and implement organisational decisions, and the communiqué that came out recently is signalling continuity, but with sharper edges. Although this is not a dramatic pivot, it is a clear “reset of priorities" moment. In this regard, it is important to note that the sequencing of terms and policy language matters. What it highlights is: industry first, innovation second, and security everywhere.

Finance has basically disappeared from the text, and property barely shows up. Analysts believe that the system is being told to “go back to the real economy" and stop chasing intangible leverage and balance sheet games.

In China, plenums matter because they are where the CCP Central Committee as a full body sets the “policy direction" for the next phase of the five-year cycle. As per past precedence, each CCP Central Committee usually conducts seven plenums. First is personnel, third is economics, fourth is governance alignment. The communiqué that is released after every plenum are not........

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