China's Communist Party will signal its approach to the country's challenges at a meeting this week

abcnews.go.com:

China’s ruling Communist Party is starting a four-day meeting that is expected to lay out a strategy for self-sufficient economic growth in an era of heightened national security concerns and restrictions on access to American technology

BEIJING — China's ruling Communist Party is starting a four-day meeting Monday that is expected to lay out a strategy for self-sufficient economic growth in an era of heightened national security concerns and restrictions on access to American technology.

While the meeting typically focuses on such long-term issues, business owners and investors will also be watching to see if the party announces any immediate measures to try to counter a prolonged real estate downturn and persistent malaise that has suppressed China's post-COVID-19 recovery.

“There's a lot of unclarity of policy direction in China,” which is weighing on consumer and investor confidence, said Bert Hofman, the former World Bank country director for China and a professor at the National University of Singapore. “This is a point in time where China needs to show its cards.”

The outcome of the meeting will send a message to local government officials and others about the future direction of policy. The general expectation is that it will confirm a path laid out by Chinese leader Xi Jinping, though some hope for some fine-tuning to address concerns that increasing government control over business and society is stifling economic growth.

The Communist Party's 205-member Central Committee is holding its third plenum, or the third plenary session of a five-year term that started in 2022. This year's meeting was expected to be held last year, but was delayed.

Historically, this third meeting has emerged as one at which major