Leading Group focus is to deepen reform

Efforts have boosted global confidence in China's lasting, robust growth, say experts

The Central Leading Group for Deepening Overall Reform, which will have been established for four years in December, has built an effective framework to tackle deep-seated problems and clear the way for greater development of China.

Headed by Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, the group was established on Dec 30, 2013. Since then, it has convened 38 meetings and approved more than 300 documents to achieve remarkable progress, observers say.

The group's efforts have boosted global confidence in China's lasting, robust growth as it works toward coordinating various departments, removing institutional barriers, reinforcing policy implementation and the Party's supervision over the reform process, experts and diplomats say.

China Daily surveyed the frequency of certain words and phrases in official releases of the Leading Group's 38 meetings. The word "reform" was used most often, mentioned more than 1,400 times. "Piloting", "supervision", "innovation" and "responsibility" also were among the top words used.

The leading group, aimed at fixing loopholes and tapping greater potential for development, has six affiliated groups working on different areas - the economy and ecology; democracy and the legal system; culture; social areas; building up the Party; and discipline and inspection.

The group's first meeting convened in January 2014. Xi has chaired each of the group's meetings and made important remarks to them, official releases show.

The meetings were attended by various figures necessary to implement reforms, such as members of the Leading Group as well as key officials of relevant Party and State departments, according to the releases.

The group had a packed schedule at each meeting, often with members listening to briefings presented by officials involved in specific tasks. It also analyzes and researches subjects at hand, reviews or approves documents and authorizes pilot projects.

A wide spectrum of issues was addressed at almost every gathering. The most recent meeting on Aug 29 reviewed and approved six documents, ranging from agriculture-related funds and compensation for ecological damage to supervision of village affairs and buildup of the judicial system.

Many landmark policies introduced by the group have shaped and brought greater convenience to the everyday lives of the people.

A guideline was approved at the group's 11th meeting, in April 2015, on piloting comprehensive reform at urban public hospitals. A pilot program at county-level hospitals was initiated in October that year.

Han Baojiang, director of the economic department of the Party School of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, says the Leading Group "takes action like thunder" to cover areas that directly shape the public good, such as medical services, elderly care, food safety and the environment.

The reforms undertaken in recent years have addressed harder, deeper issues as the easier ones were tackled before, and "the scope and depth of the reforms are unprecedented", Han says.

The reform measures adopted have won public support as they boost equality and allow the fruits of the country's development to be better enjoyed by the public, Han says.

The Party's spearheading reforms have attracted global attention as the world closely watches its potential influence on China's opening-up.

Russian Ambassador to China Andrey Denisov says he tries to "follow Chinese newspapers, articles about economic reform", and the Leading Group is "effective", as it offers a "very important agenda".

The Leading Group's influence on reform and its guiding role can be seen from a recent comment made by Minister of Agriculture Han Changfu on Sept 29.

Eighteen of the past 38 Leading Group meetings touched on reforms in rural areas, reviewed 24 reform plans regarding agriculture, issued key documents covering topics such as property rights reform, and have established pillars supporting agricultural reforms, the minister said at a media briefing in Beijing.

The agenda of all the meetings, taken as a whole, shows long-term vision and a strong sense of priorities.

Analysts observed that annual tasks were laid out at the first meeting of each year, and a review of what was achieved was made at the year-end meeting.

Also, the first meeting of the year convened right after each year's plenary session of the CPC Central Committee elaborated on how to effectively carry out the latest reform measures decided by the session.

Zhu Lijia, a professor of public management at the Chinese Academy of Governance, says the group's implementation and supervision of reforms has been a major highlight, as "great ideas could be an empty slogan forever without effective implementation".

Behind such efforts is China's strengthened awareness of the rule of law, which "allows the reform to develop in a constant, regulated and healthy manner".

Zhu says that the Leading Group introduced its working rules and priorities for its annual missions at its first two meetings before it embarked on specific tasks, showcasing a strong sense of priorities and rule-based governance.

When chairing the 31st meeting on Dec 30, Xi summarized that a slew of major reform solutions were issued and realized in the past three years, major breakthroughs were made in reform measures on a range of key areas and sections, and the overall framework for deepening reform was "basically established".

Rwandan Ambassador to China Charles Kayonga says "the speed" of the implementation was impressive as policymakers resolved issues through the Leading Group, and a great lesson for other countries is China's "focus on the main objectives".

The diplomat highlighted the Party's progress in the area of poverty eradication and combating corruption.

The leadership is "focused on resolving problems" as it achieves "mobilizing all national resources" to solve these problems, and it is also cooperating with the rest of the world, Kayonga says.

Speaking about the next five years, Li Tuo, a professor at the Chinese Academy of Governance, says that although future reform measures are yet to be unveiled in detail, restructuring the economy will be further advanced as China has benefited from this already.

People can expect more ambitious plans on boosting productivity, as the top policymakers have unprecedented vision in this regard, Li says.

China's further financial reforms should guard against potential risks and even attacks by international speculators, and more breakthroughs are expected in the internationalization of the renminbi, Li adds.

zhangyunbi@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily Africa Weekly 10/20/2017 page9)