China Special: Look beyond politics to understand the country

Next five years are 'crucial'

China's upcoming Communist Party Congress is just political theatre and investors need to look beyond it to understand where the country is heading, argues Paul Diggle, senior economist at Aberdeen Standard Investments.

Chinese leaders gather this week for the 19th Party Congress, a five-yearly plenum that sees the leadership of the Communist Party reshuffled, and economic and policy priorities outlined. Many observers think this Congress will mark a major watershed in the direction of Chinese policymaking. It will not. There will be some political appointments that reflect President Xi Jinping centralising yet more power around himself. But the reality is the Congress is just political theatre and investors need to look beyond it to understand where China is heading. Party politics It is te...