Opinion

Scholars: China to launch new round of reform for governance

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2010-10-16 11:49

BEIJING - China will launch a new round of reform to realize a good governance as the ruling Communist Party of China (CPC) is planning the country's roadmap in the coming five years, scholars and political observers have said.

The 17th CPC Central Committee opened its fifth plenary session in Beijing Friday to discuss the 12th five-year program (2011-2015), which will unveil a new round of comprehensive reform, including both economic and political reforms, said Yu Keping, a prominent theorist, in an interview with Xinhua.

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"Only with constant reforms and innovations can China build a good government for good governance," said Yu, who now serves as deputy director of the CPC Central Compilation and Translation Bureau.

Yu is well versed in the research of political system. His famous works including the article Democracy Is A Good Thing, which has been widely circulated and sparked heated discussions home and abroad.

By exercising democracy in elections, decision-making, management and supervision and guaranteeing the people's rights to be informed, to participate, to be heard and to oversee, the ruling party and the government are emancipating themselves and stepping up governance reform for good governance, Yu said.

Observers believe the 12th five-year program will go beyond plans of economic and social development to involve administrative, political, social and cultural restructuring.

Wang Yukai, a professor at the Beijing-based Chinese Academy of Governance, said the country's next five-year program will become a major step on the road to build an effective and accountable government.

"Good governance is a guarantee for CPC to remain in power," Wang said.

Hu Angang, director of the Center for China Studies, a top think tank for policy-making under the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Tsinghua University, said the Scientific Outlook on Development would be carried out in an all-round way in the next five years.

The Scientific Outlook on Development was proposed by the CPC in 2003, against the backdrop of rapid economic growth and a series of problems including excessive consumption of resources, damages to the environment and a widening gap between the rich and poor. It was inscribed in the CPC Constitution in 2007 at the 17th CPC national congress.

Administrative restructuring, as an important part of political restructuring, has been a major task since China embarked on its reform and opening-up drive in 1978.

China launched the administrative restructuring in 1982, which abolished life tenure at leading posts and reduced the number of departments under the State Council from 100 to 61.

In 1984, China began to separate government functions from enterprise management and enterprises were no longer regarded as "workshops" of the government.

Reform of the administrative system remains a pressing task in a long term, and observers believe it would be further reformed in the coming five years to create a "political system with Chinese characteristics".

Yu Keping has identified five priorities of China's governance reform in the next five years:

-- Building a government under the rule of law. The 15th national congress of the CPC, which was held in 1997, stipulated the rule of law as the goal of political development, which was a milestone of China's political development. Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said in August that building a government under the rule of law is a "revolutionary change" in the concept and manner of managing state affairs.

-- Building a responsible government. A government endowed with the power shall take responsibilities accordingly. The government shall fulfill its responsibilities and answer to needs of the people.

-- Building a service-oriented government. The government shall provide quality public services and the investment in public services must be increased.

-- Building a transparent government. There will be no clean governance or efficiency without transparency. The disclosure of government information must be fully carried out.

-- Building a clean government. China needs harsher punishments and enhanced supervision to combat corruption.

Yu said "the reform in the five sectors will depend not only on the reform and innovations within the government, but also on the deepening of political restructuring."

"Good government or good governance is difficult to achieve without a sound political system."

"The reform is a very positive and promising signal," remarked Wang Yukai.