MERICS China Podcast

Author: MERICS

The MERICS China Podcast, brought to you by the Mercator Institute for China Studies, a show that analyses current affairs in China and the latest developments in EU-China relations.
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Genres: Government, News, Politics

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The CCP prepares for the Fifth Plenum, with Alexander Davey
Episode 275
Thursday, 15 October, 2026

Ahead of the 21st National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) next year, Beijing is doubling down on social and political stability. In this episode of our podcast, MERICS Analyst Alexander Davey joins Johannes Heller-John to discuss the state of the party and what key signals to look out for as we move towards this key event. Currently, the party is preparing for the upcoming Fifth Plenum of the CCP Central Committee, with recent Politburo meetings focusing on strict governance of the party and addressing the need to resolve problems facing “party building.”On the state side, economic issues are front and center. State Council Executive meeting readouts admit “weakness in economic performance” and that "insufficient domestic demand remains prominent.” To compensate for this and for stalled investment in manufacturing, China plans to spend trillions of dollars on what it calls "the six networks" – its water and pipeline, electricity, computing, communications, and logistics systems. Alexander Davey is the author of our calendar of party and state meetings, which we also just updated.