The significance of China’s reforms is evident. For more than 40 years, the reform and opening up has created a miracle of rapid economic growth and ever-rising international prestige, laying a solid foundation for the country to achieve rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.
Having withstood numerous daunting tests and achieved tremendous success from humble beginnings, reform efforts have now entered a “deep-water zone.”
While the easier tasks have been completed, the remaining challenges are tough and require significant political courage and wisdom to overcome. China’s reform is at a critical juncture as it will either forge ahead or risk falling behind.
The epoch-making third plenary session of the 18th CPC Central Committee held in November 2013 ushered in a new stage in China’s reform and opening up by launching a range of historic, systematic and comprehensive reforms. In more than a decade, the country has rolled out over 2,000 reform plans covering various fields such as economy, politics, culture, society, ecological progress, Party building, and national defense. These reforms have helped put in place foundational institutional frameworks in all sectors.
The scale and intensity of reforms are unparalleled. These efforts have enabled the Chinese economy to consistently rank second globally and serve as a major driver of global economic growth, despite challenges such as the COVID-19 pandemic and severe external pressures.
Economic reform has been a focus of the overall reform agenda. Major measures, including shortening the negative list for market entry, implementing supply-side structural reforms and promoting high-level opening up, have led to significant improvements in the country’s market-based and law-based business environment.
As widely recognized, it is the people who have directly benefited from these successful reforms. After eight years of arduous efforts, nearly 100 million rural residents were lifted out of extreme poverty by 2020, meaning China eliminated absolute poverty for the first time in history. Through a new urbanization drive, over 140 million former rural residents have gained access to much better public services over the past decade.
China’s reform efforts have also created dividends for the rest of the world. Initiatives such as the establishment of 22 pilot free trade zones, the Hainan free trade port, the China International Import Expo, and the Belt and Road cooperation have created enormous opportunities for other countries.
Despite its significant accomplishments, China still confronts bottlenecks as well as challenges in achieving high-quality development. Its innovation capacity is not yet strong enough. It’s imperative and crucial for the country to address financial risks, secure food, energy and industrial and supply chains, and resolve issues such as insufficient effective demand, economic flow blockages, inadequate public services, and job creation pressures. Effectively addressing these problems is pivotal for China’s economic growth prospects and the overall trajectory of its modernization drive.
Amid extensive and profound changes at home and abroad, comprehensive and continuously deepened reforms are the key to addressing all the problems and challenges.
Comprehensively deepening reform not only provides an institutional guarantee for Chinese modernization but also serves as a driving force for stable growth in the short, medium and long terms. Particularly anticipated are reforms aimed at creating a unified domestic market, fostering new quality productive forces, and achieving major scientific and technological breakthroughs. Urgent and practical reforms are also needed in areas such as the fiscal and tax system, finance, income distribution, and urban-rural integration.
Meanwhile, it’s crucial to strike a proper balance in the pace and rhythm of reform. Swift and bold reforms should be accompanied by supporting measures to mitigate risks and social disruptions.
The spirit of reform and opening up defines the Chinese people both in history and in modern days. The CPC is committed to a correct and scientific methodology and a people-centered approach for advancing China’s reform. Drawing on rich experience and solid progress from past reforms, the CPC is confident and capable of leading the nation to achieve new successes in any future reform endeavors.
