Civil society can help China modernise
Karla Simon and David Yang say the government should allow NGOs to play a bigger role
While people tend to roll their eyes when they hear a new catchphrase being unveiled by the upper echelons of the Communist Party, it is worth thinking about what the "new modernisations" might mean for the growing role of civil society in China.
The slogan refers to economic reforms - the new push for industrialisation, information technology, urbanisation and agricultural modernisation - that the new leadership has indicated it will emphasise in the next 10 years. These reforms will also have far-reaching social consequences.
The government will find it difficult to address by itself all the social and economic upheaval created by these reforms. Tackling it effectively requires mobilising China's wealth of social resources.
Indeed, the current 12th five-year plan prescribes an enhanced role for civil society in China's development, and an entire chapter, and more, is devoted to ways in which non-governmental organisations should contribute to growth.
So how best can the country add a social dimension to the "new modernisations" as they are unfolding?
We assume more private industry will be encouraged. That will bring real social consequences.