Xi Jinping’s New Ideas, Viewpoints, and Conclusions on Furthering Comprehensive Reform

President Xi Jinping has articulated the mission and direction of reform as well as its objectives, strategies, drivers, and methods, and put forward new ideas, viewpoints, and conclusions on furthering reform across the board. He has also provided well-conceived answers to the major theoretical and practical questions of the new era, such as the guidelines to uphold, the path to follow, the reason for us to carry forward comprehensive reform, and the way to do so. All of this has provided us with the theoretical arsenal required to further comprehensive reform. 

First, we will uphold the Central Committee's centralized, unified leadership over furthering comprehensive reform 

We will facilitate the smooth implementation of reforms through improvements to our Party's leadership system and working mechanisms while also strengthening the Party's leadership over all areas of work by continuously deepening reform. We will also enable the Party to exert fully its core role of providing overall leadership and coordinate the efforts of all sides to ensure that reform always advances in the correct political direction. 

Second, we will firmly remain on the path of socialism with Chinese characteristics 

Everything should be measured against whether it fulfills the overall objectives of improving and developing Chinese socialism and advancing the modernization of our national governance system and capabilities. We will reform that which should and can be reformed, while setting aside that which should not and cannot be reformed. We must not return to the isolation and rigidity of the past, or veer off course by changing our nature or abandoning our system. 

Third, we will adopt a people-centered approach 

We must ensure that the principal role and pioneering spirit of the people are respected, and plan and promote reforms based on the overall, fundamental, and long-term interests of the people. We will introduce more reform measures that are of pressing concern in people's lives and accord with the common aspirations of the people. We will also make reform measures highly responsive to the calls of the people, so as to ensure that reform is for the people and by the people and that its fruits are shared among the people. 

Fourth, we will adopt a problem-oriented approach 

We will tackle tough problems, navigate potential dangers, and remedy issues that have plagued us for years. We will strive to eliminate bottlenecks hindering the creation of a new development dynamic and promotion of high-quality economic development, weaknesses and problems in the development environment and affecting people's wellbeing, central issues and flashpoints that compromise social fairness and justice, and major institutional problems that need to be addressed to push forward Chinese modernization. 

Fifth, we will focus on the main task of institution building

We will boost top-level design and overall planning as well as always establish new systems before abolishing old ones while attaching equal importance to efforts in both respects. We will also uphold and consolidate, improve and develop, and respect and administer institutions, in order to promote and integrate institution building and effective governance. 

Sixth, we will promote reform under the rule of law

We must be adept at using law-based thinking and methods to solve problems and consolidate achievements in reform. We will seek unity between reforms and the rule of law, ensuring that all reforms have a solid legal basis and that reform achievements are elevated to law in a timely manner.

Seventh, we will apply systems thinking and rigorous methods to deepening reform 

We will focus on properly handling important relationships, such as those between the economy and society, government and the market, efficiency and fairness, vitality and order, and development and security. We will also properly handle the relationships between overall advancement and key breakthroughs, overall and local interests, top-level design and community-level exploration, and boldness and caution, as well as between reform, development, and stability. This approach will enable us to pursue reform in a more systematic, holistic, and coordinated manner. 

Eighth, we will implement reforms with relentless perseverance

From the planning of reforms to their arrangements and implementation, we will aim to facilitate their realization and overcome issues by establishing whole-process, efficient, and verifiable implementation mechanisms; promoting targeted efforts and implementation in reforms; and guarding against and overcoming negative tendencies, such as emphasizing strategy formulation over implementation. 

Ninth, we will apply both the spirit of reform and rigorous standards to Party self-governance 

We will maximize the roles of Party and government leaders at all levels, encourage Party members and officials to uphold the spirit of reform, boost the resilience and skills required for reform, and be both promoters and practitioners of reform. 

Editor: Li Xiaoqiong