Document #1; Xi-Putin call; US trade and investment pressure on the PRC; AI development

There should be a Politburo meeting this week, and the agenda should include key items that will pass at the National People’s Congress that starts next week. Perhaps we will start to hear more informed speculation about the size of any possible new fiscal “stimulus” soon after the upcoming Politburo meeting.

Thanks for your patience last week, I am feeling much better.

Summary of today’s top items:

1. Document #1: Opinions of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council on Further Deepening Rural Reform and Solidly Promoting Comprehensive Rural Revitalization - The annual document #1, which for many consecutive years now has focused on agriculture and rural affairs, was made public Sunday. It is dated January 1st, but for whatever reason this one was issued publicly later than in previous years. The document has sections on “ensuring the supply of grain and other important agricultural products, consolidating the achievements of poverty elimination, devel…