China’s leaders on fact-finding mission ahead of key policy meeting in seaside resort of Beidaihe

China’s top leaders are touring the country on fact-finding missions regarding economic and social concerns ahead of an important summer meeting.

Since last weekend, four members of the Politburo Standing Committee – the seven-man inner circle of the Communist Party – have made trips to several cities and counties to focus on issues such as rural development, industrial upgrades, religious tolerance and ways to build the party’s grass roots, according to Xinhua.

“Findings from the trips will help leaders judge China’s status quo, upon which the party elites will discuss key policies this summer in the Beidaihe meeting, which sets the tone for key policies for the rest of this year and next,” Hu Xingdou, a political science specialist at the Beijing Institute of Technology, said.

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Party elites gather at the Hebei seaside resort of Beidaihe almost every summer, to reach consensus on major issues facing the nation.

Beijing is struggling to reshape the world’s second-largest economy from relying on credit-fuelled growth to development driven by technology and innovation.

Massive job cuts are planned in industries suffering from excess capacity this year and next, potentially threatening social stability, the basis of the party’s rule.

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In his third trip to a northeastern province since 2013, President Xi Jinping visited forestry farmers in Yichun, Heilongjiang province, on Monday to learn about their lives since China’s commercial logging ban led to the loss of their jobs.