Reform to turn a big economy strong

Chinese President and General Secretary of the CPC Central Committee Xi Jinping speaks at the Central Economic Work Conference in Beijing, Dec 11, 2014.[Photo/Xinhua]

China is going through difficult reforms, and its future will be shaped by its reform today.

Why is reform so difficult? Some scholars have used the metaphor that reform is like doing an operation, requiring exquisite techniques, and prudent and decisive actions. The bigger the reform is, the more complex the process is.

Yet, there are still differences between the two. An operation can resort to anesthetics to relieve the patient's pains, while the shock of reform to a nation is always unbearable, as history has proved time and again.

It was a consensus of most economies last year that structural reform is the way out of the stagnant economic situation. The winners of the new round of global competition will be the best reformers, those who can adjust their policies to external circumstances according to their internal development laws.

The world economy is coming to such a turning point that it may enter a mediocre time featuring weak and low growth, or it will gain new momentum through bold and resolute reforms.

Reforms are always subject to many factors. China's reforms are not second to that of any other nation's restructuring of their economies.

The past year marked the beginning of China's deepening of reform. The Chinese economy is in a phase affected by the overlapping effects of a slowing economy, a restructuring economy, and the digesting of previous stimulus policies.

So far, the momentum and confidence China has shown in pressing ahead with its reforms are impressive.

In the past year, 80 out of 336 important reforms drawn up at the Third Plenum of the 18th Communist Party of China Central Committee in late 2013 have initiated, or produced, their phased objectives.

Chinese reformers, with President Xi Jinping as the representative, have proved they have the ability and resolve to make difficult decisions and put them into practice effectively.

The down-to-earth reform started by former Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping lifted more than 100 million people out of poverty, and made China the world's second-largest economy in about 30 years.

It is predictable that the current reform drive led by Xi, who is being compared to the new architect of reform after Deng, will turn China from a big economy to a strong one in the 21st century. This will be done by tackling structural issues through institutional remedies prescribed in accordance with the laws of a modern government and a healthy market economy.