China may cancel annual meet to follow austerity campaign

BEIJING: China's ruling Communist Party may cancel its lavish annual informal meeting in Beidaihe, where important policy initiatives are discussed by top leaders, to follow the austerity campaign launched by President Xi Jinping, according to media reports.

The cancellation of summer retreat of top Chinese leaders, if confirmed, could signal a progress in transparency of China's decision-making process, an analyst said.

Top leaders have stopped working in Beidaihe district, 285 kilometres from Beijing, during summer since 2003 and it is irrational to hold a meeting at a tourism spot under the current emphasis on promoting frugality, the Economy & Nation Weekly reported.

Traditionally every summer around July and August, Communist Party of China leaders would meet there in a more relaxed setting to discuss important policy initiatives.

The resort meetings in the past said to have played important part in ironing differences between different factions of the party.

But after Xi took over a strong campaign has been launched against factions in the party and the military which also ensured consolidation of his power base.

"The Beidaihe meeting began to receive increasing attention due to some major decisions made in the past," Cai Zhiqiang, a professor with the Party School of the CPC told state-run Global Times.

Ealier reports said this year's meeting would focus on the country's 13th Five-Year Plan, a set of guidelines for China's economic development in the next five years.

So far, there have been no official reports about this year's Beidaihe meeting or its agenda.