Every move you make

DO YOU understand “the three represents” or “the six tightly revolve-arounds”? Have you fully embraced “ecological development civilisation” or “socialist modernisation construction”? No, neither have we. The communiqué issued after the Communist Party’s third plenum of the 18th Central Committee is as opaque and dense as ever. As usual, optimists can find cause for hope and pessimists will see their worst fears confirmed. The one thing they both agree on is that it is unusually important. Third plenums have a special place in Chinese politics as the venue for big changes in direction—and President Xi Jinping had hinted that this one would be no different.

Will this third plenum turn out to transform China as Deng Xiaoping’s did in 1978? More details will emerge. But on the basis of the document, issued on November 12th, and the choreography before the plenum, we are optimistic.