Documentary on reform wins praise from public

Changes spearheaded by Xi showing tangible results, many citizens say

A 10-episode political documentary that began airing last week has gained positive feedback from the public nationwide, with many people expressing confidence toward the Communist Party of China’s ongoing efforts to comprehensively deepen reform.

The documentary, Jiang Gaige Jinxing Daodi (Carrying the Reform Through to the End), was aired with one episode each day on the state broadcaster, China Central Television, beginning on July 17. It highlighted President Xi Jinping’s important speeches and his new thoughts on the governance of China.

Focusing on the achievements made by the CPC in deepening reforms in the past five years, the documentary’s topics include the economy, politics, social management, Chinese culture, environment, military reform and the Party’s thorough self-improvement.

The documentary, with about 45 minutes for each episode, will conclude on Wednesday. The latest episode aired on Sunday and focused on military reforms.

It has triggered wide discussion among the public over the effective reform measures put forward in the past five years.

Jin Yanlei, a geography teacher at Dongying No 1 Middle School in Shandong province, said the political documentary presented an “epiclike” story of China’s reform, which has improved the people’s lives from many aspects.

Noting that he had a second son early this year after the government adopted the universal second-child policy last year, Jin said he has benefited from the Party’s new policies.

“I am glad to see that in the past several years, commodity prices are stable and, at the same time, my income has been rising gradually,” he said.

Statistics from the government show the consumer price index increased by less than 3 percent annually in the past four consecutive years, and more than 13 million people found new jobs each year.

“I believe that under the leadership of the CPC with Comrade Xi as the core, we will see more measures to be taken to improve our livelihood after the 19th National Congress of the CPC,” he added. The Party is going to hold its 19th National Congress later this year, which will lay the foundation for the country’s development in the next five years.

Jing Linjun, a communications major at Shanxi University, said she is confident she will get a job after graduation next year.

“It’s amazing that the government has managed to get rid of overcapacity and at the same time stabilized the employment in recent years,” she said.

Comprehensively deepening reforms has been one of the most important tasks for the Party and the government since the CPC elected its new leadership, headed by Xi, in November 2012.

The president has taken the lead in proactively pushing the reform. In late 2013, the Central Leading Group for Deepening Overall Reform was established, with Xi as the group’s head.

In the group’s latest meeting on Wednesday, Xi called for solid moves to advance reforms.

The president urged local governments to be devoted to delivering reforms, shouldering their due responsibilities and making concrete and pioneering efforts.

While presiding over the 33rd meeting of the Central Leading Group in March, Xi told officials to pay more attention to reform tasks that could enhance the people’s sense of gain.

Liu Zhencheng, a tea company manager in Rizhao, Shandong province, said that thanks to the new rules put forward by the local government last year, he managed to sign contracts with dozens of farmers to rent their farmland to plant tea trees.

“In the past, the farmers were reluctant to rent their farmland because they were afraid of being deprived of their usage rights, but after the government issued them paper certificates last year to protect their usage rights, they are prone to renting now,” he said.

In August 2016, the Central Leading Group issued a guideline encouraging the farmers to rent their land to people with a larger scale of production. The farmers’ land usage rights were to be protected by the government certificates. Such measures could increase the farmers’ incomes and improve the efficiency of the land simultaneously.

Statistics from the government show that more than 70 million farmers nationwide have rented their land, accounting for 30 percent of the country’s total farmers and 35 percent of the farmland.

Zhu Lijia, a professor of public administration at the Chinese Academy of Governance, said comprehensively deepening reform will be an arduous task for the Party and government in the coming years as China faces challenges both domestically and globally.

Domestically, China’s traditional engine for economic growth is losing power, while the new engine is yet to take shape; internationally, the trade protectionism and instability of regional situations may pose threats to the development of China, he said.

With the Party’s ongoing efforts to deepen reform, China will be able to resolve these challenges and overcome difficulties to usher in a new round of economic improvements, he added.