Xi Jinping's reform pledge impresses academics

BEIJING - Recent vows by Xi Jinping, new leader of the Communist Party of China (CPC), to continue the country's reform have struck a chord with academics.

Xi vowed "no stop in reform, and no stop in opening up," during his trip to South China's Guangdong province from December 7 to 11, his first inspection tour since being elected general secretary of the CPC Central Committee last month.

Liu Jingbei, professor with the China Executive Leadership Academy Pudong, believes reform and opening up is the right path for China.

Had there been no opening up, today's booming towns and districts like Shenzhen, Shanghai's Pudong district and Tianjin Binhai New Area would still be fisherman's village, farmland and salinized land, Liu said.

Sweeping changes in these areas and the nation as a whole have underscored that reform was the correct choice for China, according to Liu.

Chi Fulin, head of the China Institute for Reform and Development, likewise regards reform and opening up as the engine powering the country's development.

"China has encountered various new problems during its development, and opening up is key to solving them. Solutions to problems surfacing during the course of development rest on further development."

Zhang Baotong, vice director of the academic committee of the Shanxi Academy of Social Sciences, stressed the importance of emancipating the mind from old ideas.

To build a well-off society, China has to propel reform and opening-up with a freed mind, Zhang said.

Cheng Jisheng, vice director of the academic department of the China Executive Leadership Academy Jinggangshan, argued the people's pioneering spirit and creativity are crucial to deepening reform.

"Chinese people have tremendous intelligence and creativity, it is their initiative that drove innovations in various fronts," the academic said, calling for respecting people's practices and creativity.