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Thanks very much everyone for joining us today. We're going to wrap up today's coverage of the opening of China's 19th Party Congress soon.
For the markets hounds still watching, PBOC deputy Yi Gang was at the speech and just said afterward that the yuan exchange rate is basically perfect.
The currency edged up by about 0.2 percent onshore today.
China Premier Li Keqiang announces ending of the opening session of the 19th Party Congress.
Xi has finished speaking to rapturous applause.
The Chinese dream is a dream about history, the present and the future.Xi Jinping, President, China
Another CATCHUP as Xi's speech continues:
Xi is rattling through how China will contribute to global governance and promises to support multilateral trade regimes and FTAs.
After lecturing delegates for three hours on the role of the State in China's future development, Xi is sounding quite the globalist right now and promises that China will never seeking hegemony or expansion.
No matter what development level China reaches, it will never seek hegemony.’Xi Jinping, President, China
Globalization needs to be more open and balanced, Xi says.
Xi says China will not allow anyone to separate any of China’s territory.
Xi said China will offer more rights to free-trade zones on reform measures.
Xi is talking about Taiwan now.
Xi says China to expand middle-income group.
“We have a fairly clear blueprint of Xi Jinping’s political economy, with an incredibly robust, strengthened state-owned sector playing a large role in propping up growth’’ We’re moving into a sort of China Inc. 2.0, a real upgraded version. That, sure, has markets and they’re going to play a really important role in this but this is all within a birdcaged economy.’’
Nice tidbit here from Bloomberg's bond guru, Wes Goodman. China is auctioning two- and five-year bonds today, and Xi's focus on the positives in China's economy, rather than the negatives, could push prices lower in those sales.
"Yields are already rising, with the five-year at the highest level since 2014, on the outlook for healthy growth.''
Innes at Oanda said supply-side reform is likely to promote further liberalization and let markets play the decisive role in price discovery:
"Foreign investors should like this candor, and I think this is key in the larger picture to encourage investment in the One Belt, One Road initiative."
Xi's repeated message on the central role that the Party will continue to play in steering the economy won't be lost on foreign investors or companies. If they want greater access to the world's second biggest economy, they will need to do so on China's terms.
Xi says China to offer more autonomy to provincial or lower-level governments.
Here's another quick CATCHUP on what more we've learnt from China President Xi Jinping's opening remarks at the 19th Party Congress. He says:
Meanwhile on Weibo, the Chinese equivalent of Twitter, Xi's remark on ‘new era' socialism has been hailed by agencies and companies ranging from the Customs to China Construction Bank.
Xi says China's ``political system can not be born out of the foreign political model'', adding the Party will "actively and steadily'' promote political reform.
We're approaching the two hour mark.
Xi says China should not copy political systems of foreign nations.
Xi says China to expand the opening of services sector.
Xi says China to further lower entry barriers for foreign businesses by large scale.
Xi says China should defend against systemic risks.
Xi says China to expand the opening up.
Xi says China to deepen interest rate and exchange rate reform
Xi says China to build up coordination between fiscal, monetary, business policies.
Xi Says China To Boost Strength Of State Companies
“Xi says quality of growth, not speed, is the priority. He talks about the importance of industrial upgrading, innovation. No explicit mention of growth targets but language on achieving a “moderately prosperous’’ society by 2020 -- which implies 6.5 percent annual growth. That seems unchanged.’’
Pang at ING says technology and the growing middle-income class "are the forces that Xi targets to push economic growth to a more sustainable stage."
Xi says China to support small businesses' innovation.
For some context, People's Bank of China chief Zhou Xiaochuan stirred up angst about deleveraging this week, saying that Chinese companies have too much debt.
That ignited a selloff in government debt and small-cap shares earlier in the week on concern this campaign to reduce debt will take on fresh importance after the congress.
Xi is getting into my favorite topic now - deleveraging! China will continue to work to reduce the country's debt load and will stock to capacity cuts.
Xi adds China to continue to reduce capacity, inventory.
Xi gives more details about the 2050 target, says China to be a leading nation by 2050 in term of comprehensive national power and global impact.
That comment from Xi there that China will deepen supply-side reform -- will be interesting to see if that has any impact on prices for raw materials like coal and steel.
Xi Says China Economy Shifts to Period Seeking High Quality; China to Deepen Supply Side Reform
“Zero tolerance of corruption is exactly what Xi wants from the Party. I expect even bigger Tigers will be investigated.”
Xi says China to be a socialist modern and strong country by 2050.
We're past the 90 minute mark. There hasn't been much new in terms of economic policy proposals but the speech has been a lesson in political economy. Xi has made it very clear the Party will maintain a central role in development over coming decades.
Xi says China to basically achieve socialist modernization during 2020-2035.
Xi says China to stick to goals in previous Party congresses to build comprehensive moderately prosperous society.
While Xi is speaking on modestly prosperous society now, here are more insights from Innes at Oanda. He said strict nationwide controls over environmental issues could lead to slower economic activity into the year-end and well into 2018.
Huge applause as Xi talks up the role of Marxism in 21st century China.
Xi says "zero tolerance'' towards corruption.
More on Hong Kong and Macau, Xi says China ``must maintain the comprehensive central authority of Hong Kong and Macau, while to protect the high degree of autonomy of the autonomous regions.''
If there was any doubt about the role Xi wants the Communist Party to play in China's development, this speech should have dispelled it. He has driven home a message that the Party is at the centre of everything and vital to securing prosperity and development.
Xi says China to maintain international orders.
More from reporter Pete Martin on the potential shift in the speech's format:
"Hu Jintao’s introduction and theory sections were shorter. Xi spent longer on politics and ideology, then was much quicker on policy. Not sure if there’s more policy coming or if this is it.''
Xi says “One-China principle'' must be adhered.
Xi is now talking about Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan.
Delegates listening to Xi have their pens out to parse the speech. There's lots of underlining and note taking, judging by the footage.
Xi says China wants to "contribute to global ecological security''.
Xi stresses Communist Party leadership in the military.
That's interesting, Enda -- obviously food safety and pollution have been themes that have really galvanized the rising Chinese middle class during Xi's term.
There's another mention for the strictest environmental protection, seems to be a sub-theme running through the speech.
We are now around the 75-minute mark. Hu Jintao’s 2012 speech was just under 95 mins.
As Xi speaks, refreshments are being served -- says our reporter Pete Martin in the Great Hall:
"Twelve women in red coats and four men in black coats fanning out to serve tea on stage -- perfectly synchronized. The four men are serving the leaders in the front row and the 12 women are serving those seated behind them.''
After largely delivering a history lesson for the first hour, Xi is now racing through a sweeping to-do list to ensure China's socialist system continues.
Mention of the market here -- Xi says the market should play a decisive role in the allocation of resources, while the government should play a ``better role.''
Xi mentions the need to deepen reforms.
The yuan is maintaining that 0.3 percent gain onshore -- the biggest increase since Oct. 10.
Xi says the Communist Party "leads everything."
Our reporters Xiaoqing Pi and Pete Martin in the Great Hall are detecting a shift in the speech's format. Not sure if that's meaningful as yet, though.
Xi seems more grand and international-facing in his comments about Party history and theory. Rather than placing himself as a successor of Mao, Deng and other leaders, he started from the Soviet Union’s revolution and went into China’s great rejuvenation.
Xi seems more grand and international-facing in his comments about Party history and theory. Rather than placing himself as a successor of Mao, Deng and other leaders, he started from Soviet Union’s revolution and went into China’s great rejuvenation.
“Xi’s emphasis on anti-corruption reaffirms that his power is consolidating in the Party.”
We're an hour into the speech and investors hoping for anything especially new in this speech will be disappointed. So far it has been a broad sweep of Xi's take on China's society and economy and its place in the world but there has been little new by way of policy signals.
Today, we are closer, more confident, and more capable than ever before of making the goal of national rejuvenation a reality.Xi Jinping, President, China
Xi says China must keep opposing behaviors "splitting the motherland''.
Xi says China is confident, capable of achieving rejuvenation.
U.S. softens China FX criticism, cuts Taiwan from watch list.https://t.co/veLNdOM7Xe pic.twitter.com/W5hNDZeV2o
— BloombergQuint (@BloombergQuint) October 18, 2017
He says the Communist Party united the country against the three mountains of imperialism, feudalism and bureaucratic capitalism that was suppressing the Chinese people.
Xi is listing the requirements for realizing the “Chinese dream.''
Peter Martin is Bloomberg's political reporter in the Great Hall. He observes that Xi's speech is more natural in tone and language than Hu Jintao's back in 2012 -- interesting.
Xi's been talking about unfinished work on the economy -- here's what he did in the last five years, via my colleague Bloomberg Intelligence Chief Asia Economist Tom Orlik and the BI Economics' team:
Away from the Great Hall, Stephen Innes, a Singapore-based senior trader at foreign exchange company Oanda, said a "treasure trove of positivity" early in the session is providing very buoyant political sentiment. He said this could see the yuan strengthen into year-end "as the PBOC will likely guide it to a strong tangent."
Xi says the main contradiction in the current society is the one between the growing quality of people's lives and the unbalanced and inadequate development.
The yuan has just started trading onshore and is gaining markedly. It's up 0.3 percent right now versus the dollar.
Xinhua, the state news agency, has also flashed a head on the Chinese-socialism-has-entered-a-new-era idea -- they obviously want this idea drummed home.
Xi says China to improve development efficiency and quality.
Xi's definition of China uses nearly identical language to former president Hu Jintao in 2012.
Xi says China is still in primary stage of socialism and that status as biggest developing country hasn’t changed.
Our development is unbalanced and inadequate. This has become the main constraining factor in meeting the people’s desire for a better life.Xi Jinping, President, China
More from Bloomberg political reporter Keith Zhai: "Socialism with Chinese characteristics has entered a new era'' -- this is a key line in the speech.
Our political reporter Keith Zhai makes an interesting fashion observation -- Xi is wearing a dark purple tie, whereas Hu Jintao wore a red tie for his previous two work-report speeches.
Chinese stock trading is under way, both in Shanghai and Hong Kong. Predictably, the moves are pretty muted-to-positive, with industrial shares driving a 0.1 percent gain in the Shanghai Composite Index.
Nothing to see here -- which is likely the way officials want things today.
Xi says China will achieve a modestly prosperous society soon.
More details on Xi's comment about socialism with Chinese characteristics, he said it has blazed a trail for countries seeking to develop their economy while maintaining independence.
Socialism with Chinese characteristics is now flying high and proud for all to see.Xi Jinping, President, China
Onshore yuan advances 0.23 percent to 6.6101 per dollar as Xi continues his speech.
Xi says the overwhelming situation of the fight against corruption has formed and consolidated.
“Power consolidations don’t sort of reach a static state. If you look back at authoritarian governments, this is an ongoing process. Xi isn’t going to say next week that he no longer has to fight vested interests or doesn’t have parts of the party that aren’t in line with him.”
Xi says there's ``significant improvement in the relationship between the Party and the public''
Nick Kounis at ABN Amro said before the Xi speech that he is not expecting a major change of course on economic policy from the Congress:
“With growth comfortably above the 2017 target, the authorities are likely to continue with their cautious approach of ‘targeted tightening’ aimed at containing excessive financial leverage such as shadow banking.”
“We have along way to go in protecting the environment.”
Former China President Jiang Zemin isn't flipping pages of the report in unison with others.
The camera zooms in on the giant hammer and sickle overlooking the great hall and pans back to reveal the giant flags on each side and the packed hall of delegates.
Away from the speech, Jude Blanchette of the Conference Board tells Bloomberg Television not to expect any widespread effort to introduce market forces in China's state-owned sector. What we are likely to see is further M&A in state enterprises to consolidate them, Blanchette says.
The Party’s ideals and beliefs are more firm and the Party’s spirit is stronger.Xi Jinping, President, China
We're 30 minutes in and as expected it's been a backward looking speech so far with Xi delivering a report card on the last five years.
From our China FX reporter here in Beijing, Tian Chen -- The People's Bank of China injected 270 billion yuan into the financial system via open-market operations today, the most since Sept. 18.
This is probably a sign officials have taken note of the selloff in government debt we've seen this week, triggered by concern that once this congress is over, Beijing will get stuck back into their campaign to rein in China's huge leverage pile.
The work on Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan made new progress, with comprehensive and accurate implementation of the principle of one country and two systems.Xi Jinping, President, China
Xi says unity of the whole Party and the whole society is more consolidated and adds "National security is fully strengthened.''
First mention of Hong Kong and Taiwan. Xi says the government is faithfully implementing one country, two systems and upheld the One China principle. He mentions a resolute opposition to those advocating Taiwan independence.
Xi says unity of the whole Party and the whole society is more consolidated and adds "National security is fully strengthened.''
Xi says China has taken the driving seat in leading the debate on climate change. That could be a veiled barb toward U.S. President Donald Trump who has promised to withdraw from the Paris Agreement.
For FX market novices, the rising line signals yuan weakness.
Xi says China's foreign exchange reserves rank the forefront in the world.
The yuan fixing is in -- 6.5991 per dollar -- it's weaker than yesterday's but stronger than analysts had expected.
Officials have been targeting strength in the currency the past week or so.
Xi is now outlining a glowing report card for the nation's economy. Besides pointing out that China contributes more than 30 percent of global growth, he also notes a thriving digital economy and investment in infrastructure among others. He says the government is pushing through reforms in a systematic way.
Xi says South China Sea artificial island building has been progressing.
China is still in an important period of strategic opportunity for development. The prospects are bright but the challenges are severe.Xi Jinping, President, China
Xi is now running through a sweeping overview of the state of the nation, listing among many other points that China's soft power has greatly improved. He says "core socialist values" are alive in the people's hearts.
Xi says China's foreign exchange reserves rank among the top in the world.
Xi says China made huge economic achievements in past five years and contributes more than 30 percent to world economic growth.
Right now both China and the world are in a period of complex changes.Xi Jinping, President, China
A few mentions of the great ``dream'' of Chinese society -- the Chinese Dream is a key tenet of Xi's rhetoric and refers to affirming China's status on the world stage.
Socialism with Chinese characteristics enters new era, Xi says.
Xi gets straight into it with an early mention for a moderately prosperous society and socialism with Chinese characteristics.
Investors hoping for a 'big bang' moment in Xi's speech may be disappointed. We may hear some details today on Xi's grand ambitions around developing the nation's technology industries and building the Belt & Road initiative. But there are key areas where we may be forced to wait, such as the yuan, the growth target or SOE reform.
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