Opinion | China's reform blueprint must address key challenges
Hu Shuli says the government must focus on three key tasks, most notably strengthening rule of law, in the spirit of the milestone plan of 1993
China's blueprint for economic reform is finally taking shape. The government has appointed a task force to draft the plans, ahead of the third plenary meeting of the 18th Central Committee. With China's economy at a crossroads, these plans are eagerly awaited.
The occasion recalls a groundbreaking plenary meeting 20 years ago. The third plenary meeting of the 14th Central Committee adopted the "Decision on issues concerning the establishment of the socialist market economy" that laid out the strategic targets and broad directions of reform. It was arguably China's most comprehensive reform blueprint in more than three decades of opening up.
The government must rethink its relationship with the market and set clear limits on its scope
Revisiting the reasons and motivation behind this landmark decision will no doubt help leaders today crystallise their own action plan.
There's no denying that, of the 50 items set out in 1993, quite a few have not been achieved. These include major issues like income redistribution, and other more minor matters like the setting up of a government-people supervisory body for a social insurance fund.
Furthermore, in hindsight, some of the guiding principles of the 1993 plan were clearly inadequate. For instance, the vague limits set on the scope of macroeconomic controls have led to a micromanaging today that is anathema to such measures. The overemphasis on state-owned enterprises has also contributed to a distorted economy today in which state presence is squeezing out private enterprise.
The new round of economic reform must address these problems.
China needs three critical breakthroughs to ensure progress - to redefine the relationship between government and the market; to ensure the growth of private enterprise alongside the state sector; and to strengthen the rule of law.