Emerging in 2018, ‘institutional opening’ zhìdùxíng kāifàng 制度型开放 has risen as a trade and development priority. Now a constant at high-level conclaves such as the annual Two Sessions and the 2024 Third Plenum, the framework has more layers than meet the eye. Given mounting geopolitical and trade friction, it has become core to a reset of Beijing’s trade contract with the world.
No longer enjoying a ‘population dividend’, the PRC is ageing. Raising the retirement age has been debated for over a decade; the Party’s Third Plenum Resolution (July 2024) foreshadowed raising it on a ‘flexible and voluntary’ basis.
Definiting a ' Chinese ' consciousness has been a mounting issue since the Opium Wars. The CPC and PRC inherited this mission. The momentum was renewed with the proclamation of Xi Jinping's Thought on Culture, which reiterated a program of merging ‘traditional’ culture with socialism.
Triggered by a flood of novel drugs and innovative R&D, pilots to speed up the review and approval of clinical trials were launched in select provinces on 31 July 2024. Initial pilot zones were approved for Beijing and Shanghai on 2 August.