President's guiding principles will take precedence over details as leaders enshrine the next five-year plan, say scholars
Senior Communist Party figures begin a crucial four-day meeting in Beijing today and will adopt a new five-year plan that will enshrine the policies and principles championed by party boss Hu Jintao , scholars said.
The Fifth Plenum of the 16th Communist Party Central Committee opens at the Jingxi Hotel in western Beijing.
The plenum, which is closed to the public, is expected to end with the adoption of the 11th Five-Year Plan and a party communique. A few personnel changes are also expected but scholars said the plenum would not lead to major policy changes.
During the plenum, party leaders would set the tone for the five-year plan, which runs from 2006 to 2010 instead of laying down every detail of the country's economic policies, said Dang Guoying , a researcher from the rural development institute of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.
'There won't be a draft plan [released] at the end of the session. The plenum will work on key principles instead of the text of the plan as it is still subject to the government to decide the exact content, which will then be submitted to the National People's Congress in March for approval,' Professor Dang said.
The 11th Five-Year Plan would resemble a summary of policies already adopted rather than a manifesto of new ideas.