Decision on reform is most important outcome of recent CPC plenum: official

Adopting a decision on reform is the most important outcome of the third plenary session of the 20th Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, a senior official said Friday.

Tang Fangyu, deputy head of the Policy Research Office of the CPC Central Committee, made the remarks at a press conference on the guiding principles of the just-concluded plenum.

Promoting China’s modernization faces many complex issues, requiring further comprehensive deepening of reform to promote better adaptation between production relations and productive forces, between the superstructure and the economic base, and between state governance and social development, according to Tang.

The decision, with economic structural reform as the spearhead, comprehensively plans reforms in various fields and aspects, Tang said, adding that the decision puts forward more than 300 major reform measures, all involving reforms at the levels of systems, mechanisms and institutions.

China will accelerate efforts to build a high-standard market system, which is a major reform task for the country, noted Han Wenxiu, executive deputy director of the office of the Central Committee for Financial and Economic Affairs.

Efforts will be made to build a unified national market, including the development of a unified urban-rural construction land market, a national integrated technology and data market, and a unified national electricity market.

The country will improve the market system and rules for production factors such as labor, capital, land, knowledge, technology, management and data, Han told reporters.

The systems that underpin the market economy will be improved, including optimizing systems for property rights protection, information disclosure, market access, bankruptcy exit and credit supervision.

To strengthen its macroeconomic governance, China plans to improve fiscal relations between the central and local governments, and research will be conducted to make the Chinese tax system compatible with new business models, Han said.

China will also increase policy support for pregnancy to promote a fertility-friendly society, as part of its efforts to ensure and improve people’s well-being, according to Han.

He noted that the country will make institutional improvements to facilitate full and high-quality employment and boost the development of the elderly care sector.

Regarding the promotion of high-level opening-up, China will expand unilateral opening-up to least developed countries and open its markets for goods, services, capital and labor to the rest of the world in an orderly manner, Han said.

Improvements will also be made to relevant systems to make it more convenient for overseas people to live, seek medical services and make payments in China.

Huai Jinpeng, Minister of Education, said China will make coordinated efforts to promote the integrated reform of institutions and mechanisms related to education, science and technology and human resources.

Hailing China’s remarkable progress in building the world’s largest education system, Huai said the country now has about 250 million people with higher education.

China will accelerate the development of world-class universities and leading disciplines and promote the commercialization of scientific research achievements, he said.

While deepening structural scientific and technological reforms, China will make coordinated efforts to achieve more breakthroughs in core technologies and strengthen the integration of technological and industrial innovation.

The country will promote institutional reforms in talent development, adopt more proactive and open talent policies, and accelerate the building of a talent pool with strategically important experience, he added.

China is committed to the integrated advancement of reform and the rule of law, according to Shen Chunyao, director of the Legislative Affairs Commission of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress.

Noting that the rule of law provides an important guarantee for China’s modernization, Shen said substantial efforts will be made to ensure that deepening reform and promoting China’s modernization are carried out on the path of the rule of law.

Among the 303 laws currently in force in the country, 78 were enacted after the third plenary session of the 18th CPC Central Committee, including important legislation such as the Civil Code. Meanwhile, 334 revisions were made to 147 laws, Shen said.

The recent plenum’s decision also put forward important tasks of legislation or law revision in areas such as private economy, finance, ecology and combating cross-border corruption, according to Shen.

Source: Xinhua