China's top leaders are gathering in Beijing this week to decide on the country's key goals and aspirations for the rest of the decade.
Every year or so, the country's highest political body, the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, convenes for a week of meetings, also known as a Plenum.
What it decides at this one will eventually form the basis of China's next Five Year Plan - the blueprint that the world's second largest economy will follow between 2026 and 2030.
The full plan won't come until next year, but officials are likely to hint at its contents on Wednesday.
Western policy works on election cycles, but Chinese policy making operates on planning cycles, says Neil Thomas, a fellow in Chinese politics at the Asia Society Policy Institute.
Five Year Plans spell out what China wants to achieve, signal the direction the leadership wants to go in and move the resources of the state towards these predefined conclusions. On the surface, the idea of hundreds of suited bureaucrats shaking hands and drawing up plans may appear drab - but history tells us that what they decide often has huge repercussions for the world.
Here are three times China's Five Year Plan reshaped the global economy.
1981-84: Reform and Opening Up
Pinpointing exactly when China began its journey to become an economic powerhouse is difficult, but many in the Party like to say it was on 18 December 1978.
The country was transforming under the leadership of Deng Xiaoping, who embraced elements of the free market to rejuvenate a previously stagnant economy.
The creation of free trading Special Economic Zones transformed the lives of people in China and, by the 21st Century, resulted in millions of western manufacturing jobs being outsourced to Chinese factories, contributing to what economists termed the China shock.
2011-15: Strategic Emerging Industries
China's integration into the globalized economy further strengthened with its World Trade Organization membership in 2001. Facing potential stagnation, the Communist Party carved a path towards strategic emerging industries like green technologies by allocating vast resources into sectors that would secure its economic future.
China currently leads the world in renewables and electric vehicles, holding pivotal control over rare earth supply chains vital for high-tech products.
2021-2025: High Quality Development
China's latest focus on high quality development aims to challenge American technological dominance and propel domestic innovation. As Western nations express concern over China's ambitions, this cycle of the Five Year Plan is defined by a quest for self-sufficiency in technology and production processes.
As the world watches closely, the outcomes of China's next Five Year Plan are anticipated to be significant, not just for China but for the global economy at large.
