Read the CCP's policy priorities: A glimpse into the black box of China’s policymaking process

China’s legislature, the National People’s Congress (NPC), kicked off in Beijing on March 5, 2025. The meeting provides a rare glimpse into a process often described as a “black box” – how China's top leadership signals its policy priorities to the bureaucrats who must carry them out, says MERICS Analyst Alexander Davey.

For a new MERICS report, he tracked two key themes from the Third Plenary Session of the Chinese Communist Party’s Central Committee in July 2024 to the NPC 2025: urban renewal and the private economy promotion law.

In his report, Davey sheds light on how Beijing’s broad ambitions turn into concrete action and illustrates the party-state’s balancing act between short-term economic needs, strategic long-term goals and meeting the needs of its people.

Read the complete report on the MERICS website here