China’s leadership will start discussions today to set the country’s long-term priorities, with Beijing expected to focus on boosting technological self-sufficiency and domestic demand.

The Fifth Plenum, a meeting of the Communist party’s leadership, will run until Thursday. It will conduct the country’s most important goal-setting exercise, drafting the next Five-Year Plan, against the backdrop of a worsening global economy and US sanctions. The plenum will also discuss a broad plan for the next 15 years, with goals that are likely to endure for at least the rest of 67-year-old President Xi Jinping’s rule.

The process to draft a plan typically reveals the biggest worries and priorities for the Chinese leadership. This year’s meeting comes as the deadline for meeting the previous overarching goal of achieving a “moderately prosperous society”, is due to expire in 2021, the centenary of the founding of the Chinese Communist party.