Party charts reform course

China aims to build a high-standard socialist market economy by 2035 by enhancing the role of market mechanisms in the economy in order to create a fairer and more dynamic market environment, according to a communique issued on Thursday after a key reform-themed meeting of the Communist Party of China.

The goal is part of the reform priorities that the CPC worked out at the third plenary session of its 20th Central Committee, which was held from Monday to Thursday in Beijing.

A resolution on further deepening reform comprehensively to advance Chinese modernization was adopted at the session. Xi Jinping, general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, delivered explanatory remarks on the draft version of the resolution at the meeting.

The highly anticipated meeting came as multiple reform policies are needed to address the challenges on the path toward Chinese modernization, with an increasing emphasis on coordinating development and security.

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

It is essential to ensure that all economic entities have equal access to factors of production in accordance with the law, participate in market competition on a level playing field, and are protected by law as equals, the communique said.

In improving macroeconomic regulation, the communique said that China will deepen coordinated reforms in the fiscal, tax, financial and other major sectors and enhance the consistency of macro-economic policies.

The third plenary sessions of the CPC Central Committee have often launched major reforms.

During the third plenary session of the 11th CPC Central Committee in 1978, when the decision was made to embark on reform and opening-up, China initiated reforms to transition from a planned economy to a market economy, continuously advancing market-oriented reforms since then, with the role of market mechanisms in resource allocation steadily strengthening.

Particularly since the 18th National Congress of the CPC in 2012, China has comprehensively deepened reforms, attached great importance to the optimization of the business environment, advanced reforms to delegate powers, streamlined administration and optimized government services, and continuously relaxed market access.

Ouyang Yaofu, an associate research fellow at the Institute of Economics of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said that reform and opening-up in China are always ongoing and will never end.

China's journey from a planned economy to a market economy through market-oriented reforms has been of immense significance not only for China itself, but also offers valuable lessons for other countries, Ouyang said