Zheng Bijian

The Third Plenary Session of the Eighteenth Central Committee of the CPC adopted “The Resolution of the Central Committee of the CPC on Major Issues Concerning Deepening Reform Comprehensively” (hereafter referred to as “Resolution”). It addressed, among other major issues, the paramount importance of deepening reform comprehensively from a new historical starting point by referring both to China’s historical development since the Third Plenary Session of the Eleventh Central Committee of the CPC and to the domestic and international situations. A profound understanding of the importance of deepening reform is crucial to strengthening our confidence in reform and heightening our sense of urgency and responsibility for it.    

The task of deepening reform comprehensively is unprecedented in magnitude in history, unmistakably reflecting the new requirements for development since the Third Plenary Session of the Eleventh Central Committee of the CPC.

Deepening reform comprehensively is a great endeavor undertaken by people of all ethnic groups under the leadership of the Central Committee with President Xi Jinping at the core. It proceeds at a new historical starting point and has a set of new historical characteristics. A central historical mission it is to accomplish is to ensure that China becomes a well-off society comprehensively by the year 2020 as planned. China will then become a modern socialist society that is affluent, strong, democratic, civilized, and harmonious by the middle of the 21st century, thereby fulfilling the China Dream of the great renaissance of the Chinese nation.

Undoubtedly, this is a battle we must win in the course of fulfilling the great renaissance of the Chinese nation. China has been amidst a new era of development since the beginning of the second decade of the 21st century. This period is distinguished from both the previous decade and the past three decades as a whole. On the one hand, China’s social and economic development and comprehensive national power have reached new levels; the Chinese nation is closer to accomplishing the goal of great renaissance than in any other period in history, and we are confident of reaching it now more than at any time in the past. On the other hand, during this period more complex and challenging contradictions and problems exist in the course of social and economic development. These contradictions and problems are not to be evaded or bypassed, and failure to address them appropriately would result in China falling into the “middle income” trap. Whether we will be able to maintain sustained, healthy social and economic development and thus turn China into a well-off society comprehensively by the years 2020 as planned hinges on whether we will be able to overcome these hurdles by making major strides in reform. 

At such an important historical juncture, the cadres and the masses are full of expectations of us and the international community is focusing their attention on us. Will we have the confidence, wisdom, and courage to make major strides in reform and thus open up new ground on our way forward? The Eighteenth National Congress of the CPC stipulated the strategic tasks of building up a well-off society comprehensively and deepening reform comprehensively, and the Third Plenary Session of the Eighteenth Central Committee of the CPC fully implemented the spirit of the Eighteenth National Congress of the CPC by mapping out a systematic blueprint for deepening reform comprehensively. This fully demonstrates the unmistakable stance of the CPC on promoting reform unswervingly in accordance with the people’s wishes and the requirements of the times. Also, this demonstrates the party’s deep conviction in the cause of socialism with Chinese characteristics, which has given them the courage to advance it to a new level by engaging in reform and innovation. Therefore, the Third Plenary Session of the Eighteenth Central Committee of the CPC will stand out as a monumental event in the entire course of reform, opening up, and socialist modernization drive.

A review of the history of reform and opening up shows that all the third plenary sessions of the Central Committee of the CPC ever since then have thematically focused on reform. The Third Plenary Session of the Twelfth Central Committee focused on reform of the economic system, principally in cities. The Third Plenary Session of the Thirteenth Central Committee deliberated deepening reform of the economic system, particularly price reform and enterprise reform. The Third Plenary Session of the Fourteenth Central Committee explored establishing a socialist market economic system. The Third Plenary Session of the Fifteenth Central Committee was primarily concerned with rural reform. The Third Plenary Session of the Sixteenth Central Committee addressed the issue of how to improve the socialist market economic system. Finally, the Third Plenary Session of the Seventeenth Central Committee was devoted to promoting rural reform and development under the new historical conditions. Clearly, each of these had as its theme reform to be undertaken in a certain area or specific aspect within the economic system.

The Third Plenary Session of the Eighteenth Central Committee proposed deepening reform comprehensively, with the focus on reform of the economic system. Specifically, the reform will be broad-based and systematic such that it will be unprecedented in history, encompassing the economic system, political system, cultural system, social system, ecological system, and the system governing the building of the party. The Third Plenary Session of the Eighteenth Central Committee made the most comprehensive and systematic planning for reform since the Third Plenary Session of the Eleventh Central Committee, and this featured most prominently in its “Resolution”.   

In reality, the problems to be addressed in the process of deepening reform will be more sensitive and complex, and the tasks to be accomplished will be more arduous. Over the past 35 years, China’s reform and opening up have progressed in a step-by-step manner, solving problems from the easiest to the most difficult. In the process a series of major obstacles in the way of development have been tackled. However, many contradictions and problems that remain at deeper levels are to be dealt with; these are tough nuts to crack, so to speak. On top of that, with profound changes occurring in the domestic and international situations, China confronts a series of new issues and challenges. As domestic and international factors interact and as old and new problems are intertwined, our task is extraordinarily daunting. In particular, we need to tackle an array of deeply entrenched institutional problems. The Central Committee has emphasized that reform has reached a “deep water zone”, where we need to focus our attention on attacking a number of major issues. This metaphor represents an accurate description and judgment of the practical, present-day conditions in which reform is situated. Based on this judgment, both the report delivered at the Eighteenth National Congress of the CPC and the “Resolution” of the Third Plenary Session of the Eighteenth Central Committee of the CPC urged the whole party to wade into “deep water” and come to grips with tough issues by being more determined and courageous to break through ideological constraints and deeply entrenched vested interests, thereby promoting perfection and development of socialism with Chinese characteristics.   

The task of deepening reform comprehensively is unprecedented in history to the extent that it is systematic and extensive and needs to be conducted in a coordinated manner. As the economic system, political system, cultural system, social system, and the ecological system further develop and are increasingly integrated, reform in any of the areas will inevitably impact that in the others. Therefore, coordination in reform is essential. While reform in each of these areas may proceed at its own pace and have its own priorities, reform in all these areas needs to be pushed forward in a well-coordinated and collaborative manner. We should avoid the scenario in which each goes its own way, which eventually leads to lopsided reform. Only when reform in all these areas mutually supports each other for synergic effects can we expect to amplify the results it promises. The Central Committee has established the Leading Group for Comprehensively Deepening Reform to be responsible for overall design, coordination, facilitation, and implementation of reform. This represents a major move, the first of its kind since reform and opening up, for deepening reform.

In summary, deepening reform comprehensively will be the most broad-based and profound revolution for the CPC since the initiation of reform and opening up.

Deepening Reform Comprehensively Will Lead to New Breakthroughs in Social and Economic Development

Building on the objective established at the Sixteenth and Seventeenth National Congresses of the CPC, that is, building China into a well-off society comprehensively, the Eighteenth National Congress of the CPC put forward a series of objectives, which include: sustained, healthy economic development; continuous expansion of the people’s democracy; enhanced “soft” power of the national culture; comprehensive increases in the standard of living of the people; and major progress in building an resource-conserving, environmental-friendly society. These are convergent with the goals or requirements laid out in the reports of the Sixteenth and Seventeenth National Congresses of the CPC[ii]. In one word, by building a well-off society at a higher level for the Chinese people of more than one billion, we will achieve the following ultimate objectives: the economy is more developed; the democracy is improved; science and technology and education make further progress; the national culture is thriving; the society is more harmonious; and the people’s lives are more affluent. Accomplishment of these will mean that China’s social and economic development has advanced to a new level in a comprehensive manner. However, this requires that we deepen reform comprehensively. Only by doing so can we find systematic solutions to the series of prominent problems in the course of social and economic development under the new conditions.     

Advancing China’s social and economic development in a comprehensive manner requires that we endeavor to accomplish what I call “four cardinal tasks” in deepening reform:

First, appropriately handle the relationships between the government and the market so that the market will play a more fundamental role in the allocation of resources, which is crucial to improving the quality and benefits of economic development. Although China is now the second largest economy in the world, it is so more in terms of size than in terms of strength, and lags behind in innovation and entrepreneurial capabilities. There is much to be desired both in the quality and benefits of economic development. This is attributed to the irrational industrial structure and insufficient implementation of reform of the economic system. It is imperative that we change the mode of economic development at an accelerated pace, strengthen innovation as a driving force for development, and, at the same time, speed up institutional reform. Handling the relationships between the government and the market is central to institutional reform. That is, we need to steadily promote development of a market economic system so that the market plays a more fundamental role in resource allocation. Resources will then be allocated based on market rules and prices determined by competition so that they will achieve maximal levels of efficiency and benefits; factors of production will be concentrated more in competitive industries, modern service industries, and strategic or forward-looking industries. 

Second, accelerate rural-urban integration as an institutional requirement. Specifically, we need to promote urbanization, agricultural modernization, and improve the geographical distribution of productive forces. Imbalanced development between rural and urban areas is a major obstacle that hinders China’s social and economic development from reaching the next level. Particularly, competitive industries and quality factors of production are mostly located in cities and the coastal areas, leaving the vast rural areas and the central and western regions relatively disadvantaged. Should we fail to radically change this state of affairs in the next several years, we will unlikely meet the goal of turning China into a well-off society comprehensively. Therefore, we need to accelerate implementation of the strategy of developing the West and fostering the rise of the central region in an effort to shift more strategic industries and quality factors of production toward these regions and the vast rural areas and hence render the geographical distribution of the national economy more balanced and rational. Only by doing so can we achieve more balanced development of the West and the East and thus common prosperity in accordance with the “two-consideration” concept proposed by Deng Xiaoping[iii].    

Third, promote the development of the distribution and social security systems in our efforts to ensure that the people more fully benefit from the fruits of development. The extent to which a modern society is civilized is measured not only by its level of economic development but also by how fully the benefits of development accrue to the people and how adequately their various interests are protected. As we forge ahea