The Third Plenum of the CCP Central Committee: Factors of Instability and Development Prospects

The Third Plenary Session of the 20th CPC Central Committee (June 15–18) was one of the central events in China's political life in 2024. The delay for more than six months in holding the plenum increased the sense of growing instability in China's development, caused by the slow economic recovery after the pandemic, as well as the high-profile resignations of Foreign Minister Qin Gang and Defense Minister Liu Shangfu. The technical postponement of the plenum disrupted the procedure for making the most important state decisions typical for the Soviet-type republics. The timing and agenda of the plenum reaffirmed the seriousness of the challenges faced by the Communist Party leadership in the economy and on the international arena. The Communist Party's search for a new model and a new theoretical concept of development is complicated by the need to take into account not only the constantly worsening international situation, the economic difficulties and socio-economic problems, but also the emergence of new productive forces and changes in the mode of production caused by the use of artificial intelligence, digital technologies, etc. The process of searching for new theoretical foundations continued at the plenum, the Decision of which formulated the main provisions for the development of China until 2029. Special attention was paid to the development of innovations, fundamental research, and the development of international cooperation in science and education in order to maintain high economic growth rates. Noticeably less attention was paid to solving social problems and social justice. An important direction of intra-party life was the continuing weakening of the role of the military in the leadership of the party and the political system of the PRC.