A guide to the Chinese Communist Party’s economic jargon

A new Communist Party slogan was born on January 9th. The phrase, which appeared on the front page of the People’s Daily, a party mouthpiece, defies easy interpretation. A loose translation might read “nine issues that must be grasped”. As is typical of party-speak, it has been abbreviated into a three-syllable catchphrase: jiu ge yi. The issues it refers to include other slogans, such as “breaking free from the historical cycle of rising and falling” and “taking the lead of the great social revolution as the fundamental purpose”. Only by fathoming such principles can one engage in “self-revolution”—yet another slogan, focused on combating corruption.

These buzzwords do not roll off the tongue. They are oblique and often resistant to decryption. Normal folk frequently ignore them. They represent, however, the language of party power—”the very currency on which [the party] to a large extent depends”, says David Bandurski of China Media Project, a research group. The jargon sets the tone for economic campaigns. It even defines entire epochs of growth. At a time when China’s leaders are attempting to drag the economy from the doldrums, there is even more reason than normal to pay attention to party-speak.