Country committed to deepening reforms in new era

The third plenary session of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China unveiled concrete reforms and detailed policies. The four-day meeting, attended by 199 members and 165 alternate members of the Central Committee, highlighted new reform packages that are pertinent to Beijing's economic, cultural and social orientation in the new era.

The plenum communique reflected China's intention to deepen existing policies in a persistent and resolute way, prioritizing issues of economic development and security, which will guide China's opening-up for years to come. According to the document, China must "achieve a healthy interaction between high-quality development and a high level of security".

The security issue is of paramount importance, and the plenum is incorporated with the government's goal for a steady progress of Chinese modernization. Beijing constantly seeks common ground through signature programs to resolve cooperation difficulties, challenges and conflicts that have increasingly been a driver of international instability.

Within this international framework, President Xi Jinping, while addressing the 24th Meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization in Astana, Kazakhstan, called on member nations to ensure security in the face of real threats and tense geopolitical relations by adhering to the bottom line of common, comprehensive, cooperative and sustainable security. It should be noted that in view of the current risks and challenges, Xi proposed the Global Security Initiative in April 2022, envisioning a new path to security.

Since several Western nations led by the United States and NATO are constantly stirring up tensions and conflicts or imposing unilateral sanctions, strengthened dialogue over confrontation is of critical importance to advancing security and ensuring peace.

The third plenum provided a common, interconnected, transnational and diverse security concept underpinned by a holistic approach.

The communique featured more than 300 actions, which will be implemented over the next five years to achieve a more innovation-driven model amid international hazards, both economic and geopolitical. Focused on Chinese modernization, new quality productive forces and high-quality development, the third plenum vowed to strengthen and boost China's technological innovation capabilities to foster new growth drivers and to advance sustainable Chinese modernization.

Innovation in technology is central to President Xi's thought. In many speeches, he has urged efforts to engage in the global innovation network, hoping that academic communities will serve as pioneers at the vanguard of science and technology. Recently, he underscored the significance of sci-tech modernization and innovation in pursuing Chinese modernization and high-quality development. China has made new inventions in basic cutting-edge research and new advances in strategic high-tech domains. It is not a coincidence that the third plenum also called for education system reforms to better foster talent in strategic fields by mobilizing nationwide resources, to attract overseas talent, and to foster a stronger nexus between universities and needs of society with the aim to tackling national and global challenges.

Besides security, technological innovation and educational reforms, the document also elaborated on reforms to support social welfare and improve income distribution. It called for a "two-way flow of urban and rural factors", narrowing the gap between urban and rural areas and "deepening reform of the land system".

Furthermore, part of the 60 points under 15 areas of the third plenum's resolution is also the proclamation to "increase local governments' autonomous fiscal resources and expand tax sources for local governments". This is a reform with the aim to advance domestic demand and local government finances by gradually allowing regional authorities to receive more consumption tax while more revenue would shift from the central to local reserves.

Other policy targets, pertinent to new reforms, included boosting affordable housing, improving job opportunities for young people and the standard of living for the elderly.

As global conflicts are intensifying and small and weak countries categorically oppose imperialism and hegemonism, the new reforms are in alignment with China's interrelated global initiatives as well as with the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence and the vision of building a community with a shared future for mankind.

Moreover, the communique reiterated China's commitment to a new development philosophy, focused on high-quality economic development driven by all-around innovation. Meanwhile, key technologies, education, sci-tech development and talent function are expected to be the foundation for Beijing's objective of a sustainable Chinese modernization in the new era.

The author is a former rector of the European University Cyprus, an ordinary member of the European Academy of Sciences and Arts and director of the CASS-EUC China Studies Center.