New | Summit season begins in Beidaihe for China's Communist Party leaders
Leaders of China's ruling Communist Party have gathered in the seaside resort of Beidaihe for closed-door talks to set the agenda for major issues.
Liu Yunshan, Politburo Standing Committee member and Secretariat head, met leading academics and researchers on behalf of President Xi Jinping in the resort town in Hebei province on Wednesday, Xinhua reported.
The authorities never formally announce the start of the Beidaihe summit but yesterday's meeting was one signal that China watchers generally take as marking its start.
In all, 54 experts, including scientists, engineers and social scientists, were invited to Beidaihe this year, bringing the total since 2001 to 800, the report said.
The informal summit is attended by present and retired leaders each summer and is used to work out major policy decisions for the coming year.
The reported last week that this year's summit would be held earlier due to urgent issues, such as the economic slowdown and the stock market turmoil.
Xi's scheduled visit to the United States in September was also a reason for the change, sources said.
Apart from the slowdown and share rout, the leaders are also expected to discuss state-owned enterprise reform, the draft of the next five-year plan, relations with the United States and Japan, the corruption crackdown and personnel arrangements in preparation for the semi-leadership transition at the 19th party congress in 2017.
In previous years, the conclaves were usually held around August 10, between the mid-year meeting of the Politburo and the party's Central Committee's plenum in the autumn.
The tradition of summer meetings at Beidaihe dates back to 1953, when the top state leaders decided to escape the summer heat of Beijing.
