Xi Jinping the reformer
Chinese leader Xi Jinping has sounded the clarion call for reform during the country’s annual key political season, dispelling concerns about whether China’s reform is “stagnating”, or its economy is “losing steam”.
“We must plan major moves to deepen reform to inject strong impetus into promoting highquality development and advancing Chinese modernization,” President Xi said at the annual sessions of China’s top legislature and top political advisory body, or the “two sessions”, which wrapped up on Monday.
Since Xi took the top office more than a decade ago, China has entered a “new era”. The country’s economic strength has grown, and its international influence has continued to rise. Reform is the hallmark of this era.
In the face of a myriad of challenges, China is now in a critical period for accelerating reform.
Reform will not stop, opening-up will not cease
Xi is regarded as another outstanding reformer in the country after Deng Xiaoping.
The two leaders faced the same mission — to modernize China, but against strikingly different backdrops.
When Deng launched the reform and opening-up drive in the late 1970s, China’s per capita GDP was only about $200. His push for reforms started almost from scratch.
In 2012, when Xi was elected general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, China had become the world’s second-largest economy, with a per capita GDP of over $6,000. But growth was shifting gears and many advantages, including the once-low labor costs, had started to diminish.
Instead of resting on the laurels of his predecessors, Xi was committed to carrying on the reform, and he knew how hard it would be.
“The easy part of the job has been done to the satisfaction of all. What is left are tough bones that are hard to chew,” he said.
Over the past decade, more than 2,000 reform measures have been rolled out, enabling the country to eliminate extreme poverty, promote integrated urban-rural development, fight corruption, support businesses, boost innovation, and push forward a “green revolution”.
With the reform measures, the Chinese economy has not only sustained robust growth but also more than doubled since 2012, cementing the country’s global status as a major growth contributor.