The Third Plenary Session of the 16th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) opened in Beijing on Saturday.

During the four-day meeting, the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee will report on its work to the CPC Central Committee, and participants of the plenum will deliberate on two documents: a draft decision of the CPC Central Committee on issues regarding improvement of the socialist market economic system and a draft proposal of the CPC Central Committee on revising parts of the Constitution.

Analysts here say that it is the first time for the Political Bureau to report on its work to the CPC Central Committee. The meeting will reveal the latest endeavours the CPC Central Committee -- with Hu Jintao as general secretary -- has made to further promote democracy within the CPC and enhance the vitality of the CPC.

China embarked on a reform and opening-up drive with the convening of the Third Plenary Session of the 11th CPC Central Committee 25 years ago. At its third plenary session a decade ago, the 14th CPC Central Committee adopted the decision on issues in establishment of the socialist market economic system, ushering in a new phase in China's economic restructuring and bringing along great economic and social development.

Experts say that although China has built a framework of socialist market economic system, the framework is still underdeveloped and imperfect as deep-seated structural problems left over from the planned economy era have not yet been fundamentally solved..

The Third Plenary Session of the 16th CPC Central Committee is expected to call for breaking through structural obstacles, which will mark another turning point and a new starting-point in China's reform process, according to experts.

The plenum is convened in accordance with a decision made at a meeting of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee held August 11. The August meeting held that China's current Constitution on the whole meets the needs of reform, opening-up and modernization drive and should be kept stable.

However, the August meeting also held at the same time indicated that it is also necessary to make appropriate revisions and supplements to the Constitution in light of objective demands arising from China's economic and social development, according to legal procedure.

Details of the proposed revisions were not disclosed at the August meeting.

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