(Bloomberg) -- President Xi Jinping skipped setting the date for an already delayed meeting to map out China’s longer-term economic plans, a move that could add to investor gloom.

The Communist Party’s 24-member Politburo pledged to tighten political control and discipline at its monthly gathering on Wednesday, according to the official Xinhua News Agency, signaling a campaign targeting graft remains a focus. The report didn’t mention the third plenum, which normally focuses on economic issues. 

Top leaders instead reaffirmed their vow to focus on “high-quality development,” a slogan that refers to Xi’s push to promote high-tech and green industries. Policymakers also reiterated their goals of ensuring that China achieves “effective” qualitative improvement and “reasonable” quantitative growth.

Xi said at a study session afterward that officials should “fight a battle to achieve breakthroughs in key core technologies” while allowing for “original and disruptive scientific and technological innovation results,” according to a separate Xinhua report Thursday. He also called for enhancing the security of supply chains.

Economic issues usually aren’t the focus of the Politburo’s January meeting, with the April, July, and December events typically reserved for that topic. But a recent stock market rout, combined with a lingering property crisis, has left investors desperate for signals from Xi’s team about potential support measures.

“From a markets perspective, the signals are far too subtle and opaque compared to what the market is looking for to shift expectations positively,” said Galvin Chia, emerging markets strategist at NatWest Markets in Singapore. “This still suggests that the overall policy stance will be to put a floor under markets but not stimulate enough to trigger a rally in assets.”

The benchmark CSI 300 Index rose 0.1% Thursday, ending a four-session slide. Investors were cheered somewhat by China promising to maintain the “necessary intensity” for government spending this year, including by using the central budget to support investment. The onshore yuan weakened 0.19% to 7.1833 a dollar. 

Read More: China Vows to Keep ‘Necessary’ Strength for 2024 Fiscal Spending

The third plenum could offer clues about China’s longer-term plans to address structural issues facing the economy. Investors will be scouring the final statement for signals of potential policy pivots and future moves to steady the slowing economy.

The meeting normally comes in October or November, one year after China’s new leadership team is set. Delaying the meeting to 2024 marks the first time the third plenum has been held in an off-schedule year in over three decades.

“It’s possible the plenum will not focus on the economy, which could further shake business confidence in the leadership’s approach to China’s growth challenges,” said Neil Thomas, a fellow for Chinese politics at the Asia Society Policy Institute’s Center for China Analysis.

A snap plenum could come before the annual legislative meeting in March, he added, “but it would likely focus mainly on personnel adjustments rather than substantive policy programs.”

Confidence in China’s economy has flagged in recent months despite efforts by the government to add stimulus, including via measures to unleash more long-term cash for banks, tighten rules on the lending of shares for short selling and broaden developer access to loans. Adding to the pessimism, China on Wednesday reported that factory activity contracted again in January.

Read More: China Factory Activity Expands in January, Private Survey Shows

--With assistance from Josh Xiao, Tania Chen and Jing Li.

(Updates with comments from Neil Thomas.)

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