Key meeting will give fresh impetus to China's reform and opening-up: China Daily editorial

The third plenary session of the 20th Communist Party of China Central Committee, convened this week in Beijing, is viewed as one of the most important meetings of the central leadership this year as it is expected to study key issues concerning further comprehensively deepening reform and advancing Chinese modernization.

According to the main agenda of the session, the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee will report its work to the CPC Central Committee.

The CPC Central Committee will also analyze the current economic situation and economic work and deliberate on a document detailing policies and measures intended to continuously advance the high-quality development of the country in the face of the increasingly complex internal and external development environments.

These policies and measures are all necessary to help the nation cope with major risks and challenges, and win the strategic initiative in the increasingly fierce international competition. China's reform drive must continue as the current and future periods are critical for building a strong country and realizing national rejuvenation on all fronts through a Chinese path to modernization.

As the country's fast socioeconomic development over the past more than 40 years indicates, reform and opening-up have become effective instruments for the cause of the Party and the people to make great strides in keeping up with the times.

The plenum is problem-focused and results-oriented, as it sets the stage to pool the wisdom of the Party for intensive, open and constructive discussions on workable solutions to help the country overcome some major hindrances in its pursuit of sustainable growth while upholding its long-term strategic autonomy.

The problems that have appeared in the process of development should and can only be resolved through deepened reform and higher-level opening-up. The plenum has sufficient lessons and experience to draw from the country's development since 2012 when it started implementing a more open, inclusive and flexible development philosophy to crack some of the knotty issues related to the balancing of social efficiency and fairness, long-term and immediate interests and the quality and speed of development.

This is not the moment for the country to rest on its laurels, but there is no reason for it to be intimidated by the challenges it faces, as it has faced and overcome challenges before, and the challenges always harbor opportunities and new possibilities.

A few years back, reducing emissions and pursuing green development seemed to be a daunting task for the nation that relied heavily on fossil energy to fuel its growth. Now China has not only controlled its emissions increase but it has also proved that it can strike a balance between energy consumption and growth. In doing so, it has developed one of the most robust new energy industries and green economies in the world.

China's development has never been plain sailing. Yet the headwinds that have been encountered have always inspired the Party and the nation to double down on efforts to explore the country's future development path.

The plenum will prove again that the Party's leadership and the socialist path with Chinese characteristics, featuring stability, unity and institutional strengths, are central to the endeavors to realize the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation in the foreseeable future.

Thus it is expected that the plenum will prove to be another critical milestone invigorating the Party to keep the country's development on the right track.