Xinhua (April 29) disclosed that Chinese President Xi Jinping chaired a meeting of the Politburo on April 29 to analyse and study the current economic situation and economic work, and to review the "National Talent Development Plan during the 14th Five-Year Plan". It also discussed "other matters". The topic of the study session was “regulating and guiding the healthy development of capital in China according to law 依法规范和引导我国资本健康发 展 发挥资本作为重要生产要素的积极作用” and the discussant was Liu Yuanchun, Vice President of Renmin University .The meeting assessed "that since the beginning of this year, in the face of the complex situation of a century of changes and the overlapping of the epidemic in the century, under the strong leadership of the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at the core, all regions and departments have effectively coordinated epidemic prevention and control and economic and social development. It achieved a smooth start and successfully held the Beijing Winter Olympics and Winter Paralympics. Achievements don't come easily". It acknowledged "that the new crown pneumonia epidemic and the Ukraine crisis have led to increased risks and challenges, the complexity, severity and uncertainty of China's economic development environment have increased, and stable growth, employment, and prices are facing new challenges". Saying it is very important to do a good job of economic work it emphasised the necessity of strengthening confidence, overcoming difficulties, and ensuring that the "major policies and principles of the Party Central Committee are implemented in place". The 9-paragraph Xinhua report said the meeting also stressed that "leading cadres at all levels must have a sense of responsibility of "always restless" in their work, take responsibility for their actions, seek truth and be pragmatic, and prevent all kinds of "black swan" and "grey rhino" incidents from happening. Party committees and governments at all levels must unite and lead the cadres and the masses to make concerted efforts and tenacious efforts to welcome the victory of the 20th Party Congress with practical actions". The meeting also said that more corruption cases are coming, and there may be more headline risk ahead for platform companies.

(Comment: Interestingly China's provincial newspapers all commented on the spirit of the recent Politburo meeting on economic work. They stressed the "directions from the top" that "epidemic must be prevented, the economy must be stabilized, and development must be safe." Meanwhile, on May 2, the People's Daily's main article main article was about how Xi Jinping talks about "struggle" while the same day it also published a Commentary on economic work where it stressed that "As long as the new development concept is.. implemented, .. and technological self-reliance is accelerated, we will .. improve the competitiveness and sustainability of China's development.")