Expert: The best reformer will win the century

China's comprehensive reform program is in sharp contrast to the stagnant reform and governance crisis in some Western countries ruled by partisan politics.

China's political system has the genes of reform, which are ingrained in the Party, and a sense of urgency to make life better for the people, who have unswervingly sided with the Party through whatever difficult times in recent history.

China is the only big country in modern world having such a strong centralized political power as the CPC, and this is endorsed by the whole of society. Yet the Party enjoys "political autonomy", a term used by the US political theorist Francis Fukuyama to depict a successful political system.

The Party stems from the grassroots of Chinese society. Unlike the games of interest groups in some Western countries, the Party's detachment from any other interest groups is an important reason for the efficiency of China's reform.

The fast development of China today is, to some extent, similar to the fast industrialization of the United States 100 years ago. Corruption, violence and social problems were serious in the US at that time too, much worse than in China today. But these problems did not stop the US from becoming a superpower.

The US' political system was in its adolescence at that time, as China's political institutions are today. The US' political system has matured, and some might say it is now in decline. China too will experience such a decline if it cannot better itself through reforms.

The resilience, vitality and innovation shown by China in its political adolescence will see the country emerge as a strong power in the 21st Century. The winner of the century is always the best reformer.

The author is a Shanghai-based scholar of political science. These are excerpts of his speech at Tsinghua University on Dec 21 in Beijing.