In an unusual move, three leading mainland media outlets have published a series of commentaries calling for political reform amid the unfolding scandal surrounding Bo Xilai's downfall.
The People's Daily, the ruling Communist Party's mouthpiece, the official Xinhua news agency - run directly by the State Council - and the China Youth Daily, run by the Communist Youth League, a training base for China's future leaders, all joined the chorus for reform.
Analysts say the move might indicate that the top leaders have reached some consensus on the issue, a controversial topic since the military crackdown on the pro-democracy movement in 1989.
'It is surely a concerted action ordered by the top leadership, which has also revealed that they, or a majority of them have reached some consensus on the need for political reform following Bo Xilai's case,' said Professor Hu Xingdou , a political commentator at Beijing Institute of Technology.
Bo was sacked as party boss of the southwestern municipality of Chongqing last month and subsequently suspended from the party's 25-member Politburo for 'serious discipline violations' - a mainland euphemism for graft.
His wife, Gu Kailai , has been placed under investigation for the alleged murder of a British businessman - a scandal that came to light when Bo's right-hand man fled to the US consulate in Chengdu and reportedly asked for asylum.
The People's Daily published four articles, each written by a different think-thank, including the Central Party School, on its opinion page. Xinhua and the China Youth Daily published similar commentaries.