China to set up central leading team for reform

BEIJING - The Communist Party of China (CPC) will set up a central leading team for "comprehensively deepening reform," it was announced after a key CPC meeting closed here Tuesday.

The team will be in charge of designing reform on an overall basis, arranging and coordinating reform, pushing forward reform as a whole, and supervising the implementation of reform plans, according to a communique issued after the Third Plenary Session of the 18th CPC Central Committee.

Party committees at all levels are urged to fulfill their duties in leading reform, according to the communique.

Prof. Xie Chuntao, with the Party School of the CPC Central Committee, said setting up the leading team is necessary because reform this time will be both unprecedented in scale and degree. A goal has been set to "achieve decisive results in the reform of key sectors by 2020."

To achieve this, an institution that exercises core leadership is essential because reform on such a large scale will involve not only government institutions but also those of the Party, legislature and judiciary, said Xie.

The plenum held that while comprehensively deepening reform, the CPC must strengthen and improve its leadership. The Party must give full play to its core role of commanding the whole situation and coordinating the efforts of all quarters, and improve the leadership and governance to ensure the success of reform.

The Party will stick to the policy of reform and opening up, as it has provided important experience for comprehensively deepening reform, according to the communique.

It added that what is most important is upholding the leadership of the Party, implementing the basic line of the Party, rejecting both the old and rigid closed-door policy and any attempt to abandon socialism and take an erroneous path. It is important to adhere to socialism with Chinese characteristics and ensure the right direction of reform at all time.

In comprehensively deepening reform the Party must also correctly address the relations between reform, development and stability, being bold in mind yet steady in steps.

Moreover, it must combine overall design at the top level with the pragmatic reform approach of "crossing the river by feeling the stones," according to the communique.

Chi Fulin, head of the China Institute for Reform and Development, a think tank based in south China's Hainan Province, said setting up the team is what pro-reform supporters expect.

In a new era, there are various aspects of comprehensively deepening reform. An important one is to break the entrenched vested interests and this is impossible without top-level design and efforts, a duty which will be fulfilled by the team, according to Chi.

"Setting up the team to coordinate reform is a measure that ensures comprehensively deepening reform, boosting our confidence in further reforms," he said.