As far as punchy titles go, the third plenary session of the 18th Central Committee of the Communist party of China is wanting. The statements produced by the plenum are likely to be similarly dense, full of references to perfecting the country’s socialist market economy and homage to theories such as the “three represents”.

就扣人心弦的标题而言，中国共产党第十八届中央委员会第三次全体会议可能会让人失望。全会的声明可能套话连篇，强调要完善中国的社会主义市场经济之类，并提到“三个代表”等理论。

But bloated phrasing has not been an obstacle to far-reaching economic policy changes in China over the past 35 years. Expectations are running high that the forthcoming meeting – held in Beijing from November 9 to 12 – will kick-start reform. While lofty expectations are likely to be disappointed, it does not mean the third plenum will be a non-event.

但是，臃肿的措辞并没有阻止中国在过去35年里推行深远的经济政策变革。很多人期待，11月9日至12日在北京举行的三中全会将启动改革。尽管太高的期待很可能带来失望，但这并不意味着三中全会将无足轻重。

This is the first real opportunity for President Xi Jinping to flesh out his economic vision for the country after a year at the helm of the Communist party. Previous third plenums have been pivotal. Deng Xiaoping used the 1978 plenum to consolidate China’s post-Mao agricultural reforms. Jiang Zemin, his successor, used the 1993 third plenum to lock in the market reforms that culminated in China’s accession to the World Trade Organisation.

这是中国国家主席习近平在出任中共中央总书记一年后，首次有真正的机会阐明他对中国经济的愿景。前几届“三中全会”都很关键。邓小平利用1978年的三中全会巩固了中国在毛时代结束后的农业改革。他的继任者江泽民利用1993年的三中全会锁定了市场化改革，最终让中国加入世界贸易组织(WTO)。

But for Hu Jintao, Mr Xi’s predecessor, the 2003 third plenum became a marker of his administration’s shortcomings. Mr Hu vowed at the plenum to tackle China’s unbalanced growth, but a decade later left office with the economy even more reliant on investment.

但对习近平的前任胡锦涛来说，2003年的三中全会最终成了他主政期间的弱点的标杆。胡锦涛在那年的三中全会上誓言针对中国不平衡的增长采取行动，但在他10年后离任时，中国经济对投资的依赖不降反增。

The challenge for Mr Xi is to make up for that lost time. China is entering an era of slower growth and Beijing wants a more sustainable economic model, driven by consumption and innovation.

习近平面临的挑战是弥补失去的时间。中国正进入增长较慢的时期，北京方面希望转向一种由消费和创新推动的更可持续的经济模式。

One commonly heard view is that Beijing will not be able to push through economic reforms until a crisis comes along to undermine defenders of the status quo. But others believe the third plenum might be just the moment for the party to get ahead of the curve and introduce ambitious reforms.

一种经常听到的观点是，北京方面将无法推行经济改革——直到爆发一场危机，削弱现状捍卫者。但另一些人相信，三中全会正是党抓住主动、出台雄心勃勃的改革的契机。

This optimistic assessment has been fuelled by a reform proposal for the plenum from the Development Research Centre, a think-tank under the State Council, or cabinet. The DRC report reads almost like a wishlist from the International Monetary Fund. Its authors would have Beijing break up state-owned monopolies, give farmers the right to sell their land and allocate greater taxation power to cash-strapped local governments.

这种乐观评估得到一份提交三中全会的改革提议的推动，这份提议来自中国国务院旗下智库“发展研究中心”(Development Research Center)。该中心的报告看上去几乎像是国际货币基金组织(IMF)的愿望清单。其作者希望中国高层分拆国有垄断企业，让农民有权出售自己的土地，并让资金拮据的地方政府获得更大的征税权力。

Some believe the DRC proposal is indicative of Mr Xi’s intentions, and that it will be little short of a policy revolution. It is “probably the most ambitious top-down economic reform initiative in the history of the People’s Republic of China”, Dong Tao, an economist with Credit Suisse, wrote in a widely circulated note last week.

一些人相信，发展研究中心的报告代表习近平的意图，而它将是一场名副其实的政策革命。瑞信(Credit Suisse)经济学家陶冬在上周一份广泛传阅的简报中写道，这“很可能是中华人民共和国历史上最雄心勃勃的自上而下的经济改革举措”。

Beijing may not suffer from Washington-style gridlock, but it does have its conservative voices; the third plenum cannot simply sweep them aside. Reformers have for years been pushing for wider implementation of property taxes, abolition of the one-child policy and dismantling of the hukou household registry.

中国政府也许不会遭遇华盛顿那样的僵局，但它也要面对自己的保守派：三中全会不可能对这些人置之不理。改革派官员多年推动更广泛地实施房产税，废止独生子女政策，以及废除户口登记制度。

Conservatives have opposed those changes, fearful of the effect on the party’s power and the public purse. The result has been incremental change.

保守派反对这些变革，担心此类举措对党的权力和公共财政的影响。结果就是渐进式改变。

One area where there is relatively little resistance to reform is finance. Liberalising interest rates, for example, simply does not pose the same threat to state-owned enterprises as breaking them up.

阻力相对较小的一个领域是金融业。例如，对国有企业来说，相对于被迫分拆，放开利率不至于构成什么威胁。

For that reason the third plenum will probably conform to the policy pattern of the past two years, reinforcing the progress seen in financial deregulation but offering only vague promises on more sensitive topics such as privatising rural land.

基于这个理由，三中全会很可能延续过去两年的政策模式，强化金融放松管制方面的进展，但在比较敏感的话题（如私有化农村土地）上仅仅作出含糊的承诺。

This is not necessarily a bad thing. The fact that bold reform proposals are being floated so openly reflects the more progressive thinking on economic policy in Beijing.

这未必是一件坏事。大胆的改革提议能够得到如此公开的讨论，这个事实本身就反映出北京方面比较进步的经济政策思路。

The third plenum will not herald a revolution. But beneath the turgid official language, it will signal that the Chinese ship of state is slowly steering in the right direction.

三中全会不会开启一场革命。但在连篇的官方套话之下，它将发出信号表明，中国政府的大船正缓慢转向正确的航向。