Time to reform

The reform blueprint sketched by the Third Plenum of the Communist Party of China’s 18th Central Committee pays more attention to the practical needs of restructuring the economy and the livelihood of the common people, says an article in 21st Century Business Herald (excerpts below).

According to the plenum’s communique, the general objective of comprehensively deepening reform is to improve and develop socialism with Chinese characteristics, and modernize the state governance system and governance ability.

The objectives of the new reform in China look more like the Party’s promise to the people.

As the communique points out, by 2020 the reform should accomplish decisive achievements in important areas and key links, form complete, systematic, scientifically regulated and effectively functional institutional systems to make the institutions of various aspects more mature and settled.

The nature of the reform is to remove the institutional barriers hindering the development of the Chinese economy and society, according to the basic laws of economy and the market.

Economic system reform is the key point of comprehensively deepening reform. The core issue is to balance the relations between the government and the market to let the market play decisive roles in allocating resources and let the government play better roles.

The communique touches almost every area of China’s reform. As it said, systematic, integral and synergetic reform must be heeded to accelerate the development of the socialist market economy, democratic politics, advanced culture, harmonious society and ecological civilization, to liberate the vitality of labor, knowledge, technology, management and capital and to let social wealth flourish and let the fruits of development benefit all of the people more fairly.

Such a comprehensive plan ensures reform deepens in different areas at the same time, rather than as a patchwork of some parts of the system. Such a complete and integrated top-level design empowers the Central Reform Leading Group, which the plenum decided to establish soon to coordinate efforts of different departments.

The group is to take charge of the overall design of reform, integrating and coordinating efforts to push ahead reform, and supervising the implementation of reform plans. The Party committees at various levels must fulfill their responsibilities as leaders of the reform. Land reform, fiscal and tax reform and State-owned enterprise reform are all thorny challenges for the group.

We expect all of these refreshing new proposals, concepts and decisions can be implemented as expected to maintain a healthy order of the market and society.