China Reforms to Boost Economy: Xi's Leadership Emphasized

Beijing, Jul 18 (PTI) A crucial meeting of China's ruling Communist Party on Thursday adopted a resolution for comprehensive reforms to lift the sluggish growth of the world's second-largest economy by achieving socialist modernisation by 2035 and re-emphasised President Xi Jinping's “core” leadership position.

Stated to be a defining moment of Xi's leadership of the party, the third plenum of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee discussed and adopted a report, presented by Xi, 71, an official communique said here at the end of the four-day meet.

The plenum took place at a time when China, beset by a slowdown affected by COVID lockdowns, is struggling with various curbs and sanctions from the US and the EU, especially for its high-tech products.

It is also trying to assure both foreign business and the private sector at home about the country's economic prospects to attract investments as the economic growth, in the April to June quarter, slowed to 4.7 per cent on an annual basis.

Xi delivered explanatory remarks on the draft version of the resolution proposing reforms to revitalise broad sections of the economy at the meeting attended by 364 members of the CPC Central Committee, which is the top policy body of the party.

Although details of the reform package presented by Xi are yet to be released, the communique said he mostly focussed on building a high-standard socialist market economy.

“The overall objectives of further deepening reform comprehensively are to continue improving and developing the system of socialism with Chinese characteristics and modernise China's system and capacity for governance,” the communique said.

“By 2035, we will have finished building a high-standard socialist market economy in all respects, further improved the system of socialism with Chinese characteristics, generally modernised our system and capacity for governance, and basically realised socialist modernisation,” it said.

The reform tasks laid out in the resolution shall be completed by the time the country celebrates its 80th founding anniversary in 2029, it added.

The Plenum also highlighted the “core” leadership position of Xi, who is in his unprecedented third five-year term in power and called for improving national security institutions and the CPC's control over the military “to effectively safeguard the country's stability and security over the long term,” the communiqué said.

Aiming to achieve basic modernisation of national defence and the armed forces, the communiqué further urged maintaining the Party's absolute leadership over the armed forces and fully strengthening the military through reforms for a strong guarantee for realising the goals for the centenary of the People's Liberation Army in 2027.

In improving the Party's leadership “we must acquire a deep understanding of the decisive significance of establishing Comrade Xi Jinping's core position on the Party Central Committee and in the Party as a whole and establishing the guiding role of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era,” it said.

In building a high-standard socialist market economy, the role of the market must be better leveraged, with a fairer and more dynamic market environment to be fostered and resource allocation to be made as efficient and productive as possible.

Restrictions on the market will be lifted while effective regulation will be ensured to better maintain order in the market and remedy market failures, the communique said.

Describing opening up as a “defining feature of Chinese modernisation,” the communique said that the Party will steadily expand institutional opening up, deepen the foreign trade structural reform, further reform the management systems for inward and outward investment, improve planning for regional opening up, and refine the mechanisms for high-quality cooperation under the Belt and Road Initiative.