Zhang Ke and Liu Xinyue: A Review of Overseas Scholars' Research on China's Comprehensively Deepening Reform
General Secretary Xi Jinping has pointed out that comprehensively deepening reform must be taken as the fundamental driving force for advancing Chinese-path modernization. Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC), the Party has advanced comprehensively deepening reform with immense political courage, propelling the cause of the Party and the state to achieve historical achievements and undergo historical transformations, writing a new chapter of reform and opening up in the New Era. This article intends to systematically organize and review representative English-language literature by overseas scholars regarding China's comprehensively deepening reform. It aims to profoundly understand the extraordinary achievements, historical significance, and future trends of these reforms from an "outsider's" perspective, objectively recognize the theoretical contributions and limitations of English-language research, and propose policy recommendations for telling the story of China's reforms well and creating an external public opinion environment favorable to reform, development, and stability.
I. Overall Evaluations of Comprehensively Deepening Reform by Overseas Scholars
Many overseas scholars positively evaluate the measures and effectiveness of China's comprehensively deepening reform, arguing that it has realized transformations in the structure, processes, culture, and technology of Chinese public organizations, thereby enhancing China's state capacity to respond to changes and challenges in the domestic and international environments.
(1) The general goal of comprehensively deepening reform possesses significant innovative meaning The Third Plenary Session of the 18th CPC Central Committee proposed that the general goal of comprehensively deepening reform is to improve and develop the system of socialism with Chinese characteristics and to modernize China's governance system and capacity for governance. This major proposition of "modernizing the national governance system and governance capacity" has attracted widespread attention from overseas scholars. Anna Lisa Ahlers and others argue that the concept of "governance" involves political analysis covering numerous issues such as the characteristics, power, structure, and organization of government. "Governance" emphasizes political output and result-orientation, focusing on solving collective problems within specific policy fields. He Li believes that since 2012, reform and innovation in national governance have become a core pillar of China's grand strategy. The reform concept based on "good governance" [1] provides an important theoretical and practical foundation for China's governance reforms; strengthening governance capacity building helps China establish legitimacy without converging toward Western systems. Kuotsai Tom Liou argues that China's government reforms are committed to pursuing "good government and good governance" (liángzhèng shànzhì), taking values such as public participation, democracy and the rule of law, transparency, government responsiveness, consensus building, equity and inclusion, efficiency, and accountability as guides. By using increased government efficiency, anti-corruption, and the application of information technology as primary means to drive changes in the national governance system, China has effectively improved its state governance capacity.
(2) The decision-making system and advancement methods of comprehensively deepening reform are continuously optimized The Third Plenary Session of the 18th CPC Central Committee established the Central Leading Group for Comprehensively Deepening Reform. The Third Plenary Session of the 19th CPC Central Committee changed this into the Central Commission for Comprehensively Deepening Reform, responsible for top-level design, overall layout, coordination, holistic advancement, and supervision of implementation for major reform work. Lance L.P. Gore, comparing the Central Leading Group for Comprehensively Deepening Reform with the State Commission for Restructuring the Economic System (established in 1982), pointed out that the former is "an institution with an unprecedented scope of power and responsibility." The restructuring commission established in the early period of reform and opening up was a department under the State Council, primarily focused on economic system reform. The Central Leading Group for Comprehensively Deepening Reform is a top-level design body that transcends existing Party and state departments, helping to coordinate reform tasks across all fields, including politics, economy, society, culture, and ecology. Considering the scope, scale, and complexity of China's reforms since 2013, the Leading Group is the authoritative body required for this new round of reform.
During the second group study session of the 18th CPC Central Committee Political Bureau, General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out that "crossing the river by feeling the stones [2] is a reform method full of Chinese characteristics and consistent with China's national conditions." Some overseas scholars believe that in the process of comprehensively deepening reform, top-level design and grassroots exploration have achieved organic integration and positive interaction. Abbey S. Heffer and Gunter Schubert found through research that since 2012, against the backdrop of strengthened top-level design, local policy experimentation in China has not ceased; local governments continue to shoulder the task of proposing innovative policy solutions as always, reflecting a new characteristic of "experimentation under pressure." Schubert and Sascha Zhivkov used the Fujian Pilot Free Trade Zone as a case study to discuss China's economic reform practices under top-level design, arguing that the primary achievement of the Free Trade Zones is the exploration of replicable and scalable policy measures to optimize the business environment.
(3) Practical advantages and theoretical value of comprehensively deepening reform in a comparative perspective From a comparative perspective, some overseas scholars observe the practical development and reform models of China's comprehensively deepening reform. Tom Christensen and others utilize Post-New Public Management (Post-NPM) theory to analyze China's reform model, arguing that China's reform measures align with the core features of Post-NPM—emphasizing structural integration, enhancing top-level design capacity, and strengthening the centralized and unified leadership of the center. From a structural-instrumental perspective, the CPC, as the ruling party, possesses sufficient authority to maintain political stability and can implement "large department" reforms under centralized leadership to solve the problem of organizational fragmentation through coordinated action. From a cultural-institutional perspective, Post-NPM theory emphasizes collective values and moral standards, which resonate with fine traditional Chinese culture; the shared vision of the "Chinese Dream," proposed since the 18th CPC National Congress, effectively consolidates public support and to some extent resolves governance difficulties caused by heterogeneity, complexity, and hybridity in Chinese society. Liang Tang compares China's comprehensively deepening reform practices with Western reform practices, arguing that economic modernization and political democratization are the ultimate goals of institutional reform in modern states, and China is no exception. Although there are differences between China's reform and the Western model, they are not diametrically opposed; in the process of reform and opening up, China has critically absorbed some concepts, mechanisms, and methods from Western reform models to explore and form a reform model consistent with its own national conditions. The characteristic that allows China's reform to transcend the Western model lies in two aspects: first, the CPC and the Chinese government possess a global outlook based on national interests, allowing them to break free from the constraints of interest groups and independently formulate reform measures suited to national realities; second, while maintaining political stability, China advocates values such as democracy, the rule of law, fairness, and justice, while simultaneously absorbing and drawing on beneficial institutional tools and methods from various countries to advance its own modernization process. Steven J. Balla believes that governance reform is a component of the CPC's development strategy under the new stage of development. He studied online consultation cases from over 100 central ministries and provincial government websites, arguing that online consultation has improved the level of government information disclosure and promoted public participation in government decision-making. Online consultation is an incremental administrative reform measure under the leadership of the CPC, helping China respond to governance challenges in the new stage of development.
II. Observations by Overseas Scholars on Specific Areas of Comprehensively Deepening Reform
(1) Reforms in the economic field Economic system reform is a key task of comprehensively deepening reform, and overseas scholars pay close attention to it. Barry Naughton believes that driven by market-oriented reforms, the Chinese economy has achieved sustained growth, broken away from the old planned economy model, and reshaped the relationship between the government and the market. The government's goal for economic development has shifted from pure economic growth to redistribution, social equity, and economic security. Currently, the market plays a decisive role in resource allocation, while the government's role is more reflected in strategic planning and economic regulation. He believes that problems such as an irrational income distribution structure and insufficient funding for public services still exist in the operation of China's economic system, suggesting further deepening of economic system reform with a focus on social security, income redistribution, and improving the business environment. Thomas Heberer and Gunter Schubert, based on field research, propose that the future of China's socialist market economy depends on the healthy development of the private economy. During the process of deepening economic reform, Chinese private entrepreneurs have become an influential "strategic group" capable of pushing the government to optimize the business environment through formal and informal channels. As one of the driving forces of the Chinese economy, this "strategic group" of private entrepreneurs plays an important role in maintaining social and political stability.
Some overseas scholars analyze the challenges facing China's economy and explore the directions and priorities for the next steps of economic system reform. Dwight H. Perkins believes the Chinese economy faces three major challenges: an aging population, carbon neutrality, and the combination of low consumption and high investment. He proposes that the sustainable development of China's economy should shift the focus of investment from resource-intensive housing and infrastructure toward providing better public services for the people—providing free, high-quality education for the children of the migrant population and rural "left-behind" [3] children, providing better healthcare services, and investing in clean energy to replace coal and other fossil fuels. Shang-Jin Wei believes that the slowdown in China's economic growth is partly cyclical—a result of a relatively weak global economy—but primarily structural. He argues that China's past economic growth was supported by a series of market-oriented institutional reforms and the demographic dividend; however, since 2012, China's total working-age population has shown a downward trend, labor costs have risen, and the advantage of low wages is gradually fading. The focus of China's deepening economic system reform lies in improving total factor productivity. Fabrizio Zilibotti believes that since 2013, China has activated an innovation-led growth engine, promoting the transformation of economic development from investment-driven growth to innovation-driven growth. He proposes a need to choose between sustainable long-term growth and high-growth short-term goals. Through structural reforms, China has changed its previous singular focus on growth rates, emphasizing sustainable and stable economic growth under the "New Normal" [4], which he considers a wise choice. Whether the transition to innovation-driven growth can be achieved is key to high-quality development; deepening economic reform should change the practice of over-reliance on fixed-asset investment and instead make innovation the primary driver of economic development by strengthening investor protection.
Furthermore, some overseas scholars focus on the effectiveness of specific reform areas such as supply-side structural reform, mixed-ownership reform of state-owned enterprises (SOEs), and rural cooperative reforms. Hyun Sang Baek analyzed the relationship between China's supply-side structural reform and sustainable growth. He believes that China's supply-side structural reform innovatively reforms the supply side rather than the demand side, guiding the collective participation of the public sector—including SOEs, local governments, and state-owned commercial banks. By cutting overcapacity, reducing inventory, deleveraging, lowering costs, and strengthening weak links [5], it has reduced the negative impact of overcapacity on economic growth and provided important momentum for the sustainable growth of the Chinese economy under the New Normal. Kasper Ingeman Beck analyzed the mixed-ownership reform of Chinese SOEs since 2013 in detail through policy texts and case studies. He argues that mixed-ownership reform has consolidated China's political-economic system, organically blending the two regulatory modes of planning and market, and the two economic sectors of public and private ownership. Brooke Wilmsen and others conducted field research on rural cooperative reforms in Hubei Province. They pointed out that cooperatives can effectively utilize farmland in areas with high rates of farmer out-migration or those suitable for large-scale production, while primarily playing a political function in areas with smallholders. He believes that although the role of cooperatives in agricultural transformation in that region is not yet obvious, they may play an important role in the future.
(2) Reforms in the political field
Political structural reform is an essential component of comprehensively deepening reform, playing a vital role in safeguarding and promoting economic and social development. Rana Mitter points out that since the 18th CPC National Congress, China has been constructing a political discourse system distinct from that of the West. He argues that the "whole-process people's democracy" proposed by Chinese leaders inherits the Marxist concept of the "people's democratic dictatorship." Howard Wang contends that the CPC’s proposal to "coordinate development and security" emphasizes prioritizing a series of security issues—including economic, political, cultural, food, data, biological, and supply chain security—under the guidance of the Holistic Approach to National Security [6]. "Coordinating development and security" implies that Chinese leaders hope for China's economic development and security status to complement each other and interact positively. Susan Trevaskes believes that China’s high regard for the rule of law since 2012 is crucial for understanding the developmental direction of the Chinese Party and state.
Deepening the reform of Party and state institutions is an inevitable requirement for comprehensively deepening reform and promoting the modernization of the national governance system and governance capacity. Some overseas scholars believe that the CPC has strengthened centralized and unified leadership through these institutional reforms. Kjeld Erik Brødsgaard points out that the CPC has not fallen into decline as some Western scholars predicted; on the contrary, in recent years, the CPC has strengthened its centralized and unified leadership over state institutions.
Other overseas scholars have conducted research on topics such as shifts in the values of the Chinese populace and the relationship between the state and intellectuals. By analyzing survey data, Sungmin Cho points out that China has made progress in its conceptions of democracy and the rule of law alongside long-term economic growth. He notes that the Chinese people's understanding of democracy possesses its own characteristics and that modernization theory is applicable to the Chinese case. Elizabeth J. Perry focuses on the relationship between the state and intellectuals. She argues that the historical expectation and moral role of Chinese scholars has been to serve the state. The Chinese Party and government attach great importance to the reform and development of higher education, proposing the goal of building world-class universities and constructing a positive relationship between the state and intellectuals, which plays an important role in maintaining national stability.
(3) Reforms in the Cultural Sphere
Reform of the cultural system is an important task in comprehensively deepening reform and is of great significance for enhancing the country’s cultural soft power. Orna Naftali points out that the CPC has consistently prioritized "patriotic education" activities in schools, media, and public spaces to guide youth in strengthening their national identity. Through surveys and interviews with 856 middle school students, she found that Chinese youth demonstrate a strong national identity; terms such as "patriotism," "pride," "building the country," and "winning glory for the country" [7] were high-frequency keywords mentioned by students during conversations with researchers. Maria Repnikova and others used The Paper (澎湃新闻) as a case study to research China’s media digital transformation in the new media era. They believe The Paper has created a new form of journalism that can both attract the public and help strengthen the ruling party’s propaganda work. Dan Chen focuses on the practical functions of "livelihood news" [8] programs on Chinese prefectural-level television stations. She found that the production process of livelihood news has altered the political role of local TV media. By reporting on livelihood issues and helping to resolve practical problems faced by the masses, the media can effectively promote the provision of local public services.
Some overseas scholars focus on the reform and development process of China’s cultural undertakings and cultural industries. Wang Cangbai uses the protection and utilization of cultural heritage in Jiangmen City, Guangdong Province, as a case study to reveal how local governments skillfully use three interconnected carriers—museums, commemorative building complexes, and expressive local folk activities—to promote cultural inheritance and development within urban spaces. Svetlana Kharchenkova uses archival data and interviews to explore how commercial galleries and auction houses, the two dominant organizational forms in China’s contemporary art market, were established. She argues that China’s unique political, cultural, and institutional environment has reshaped the organizational forms of these imported cultural market entities. Confucius Institutes are educational institutions for disseminating the Chinese language and culture. One study uses the Confucius Institute project in Ethiopia as a case study to analyze how China gains the support and recognition of university administrators, students, and Chinese language teachers by integrating language and cultural promotion, summarizing the successful experiences and lessons of Confucius Institutes and Confucius Classrooms in Ethiopia.
In recent years, several unique Chinese cultural products and phenomena have attracted overseas attention. Since 2012, the A Bite of China documentary series produced by CCTV has been enthusiastically received by audiences at home and abroad, becoming a well-known brand for Chinese culinary culture. The unprecedented success and influence of A Bite of China are largely attributed to CCTV’s convergence strategy within the context of media reform; the participation and re-creation of media audiences online injected new vitality into the formation and dissemination of the "Bite phenomenon." Jonathan Sullivan and others argue that the "celebrity effect" in China is a unique pop culture phenomenon. Celebrities match the commercial media and internet advertising-centric business models while also serving as powerful tools for disseminating Party and state discourse. Government departments guide celebrities to deliver positive messages and encourage the public to emulate them through the formulation of the "Advertising Law" and "Ethical Standards for Advertising Activities," thereby achieving public policy goals.
(4) Reforms in the Social Sphere
Some overseas scholars believe that since 2012, China has promoted a series of institutional innovations in the social sphere, reforming and improving the social governance system, while also needing to promptly address new issues. Marianne von Blomberg and others focus on the construction of China's Social Credit System, arguing that China has created a unique type of public regulation through the punishment of social credit "dishonesty" [9], which is expected to resolve the inefficiency of traditional regulatory means. Of course, this "reputational regulation" may also bring new challenges due to the lack of credit repair mechanisms. Jean Christopher Mittelstaedt argues that the "grid management" [10] model in China’s grassroots governance is an extension of existing governance structures into the community. Grid management strengthens grassroots governance through mapping, data collection, and information sharing, emphasizing top-down management and focusing on social stability. During the COVID-19 pandemic, grid management demonstrated its effectiveness as a tracking mechanism and a coordination platform for service delivery.
Deepening comprehensive reform in the field of education is an important task for promoting the reform and innovation of social undertakings. Richard B. Freeman and others believe that the quality of Chinese universities and their level of research have improved significantly, patent growth has been rapid, and the results of education reform are remarkable. China's education reform actively adapts to the trend of globalization, encouraging talented individuals to receive overseas education and return home to engage in innovation and entrepreneurship, enabling Chinese higher education institutions to rapidly reach the global frontiers of science and technology in several fields. Li Jun believes that reforms in the education sector focus on improving education quality, optimizing the educational structure, and promoting educational equity; the goals of reform primarily include equality, quality, efficiency, and revitalization. Rapid economic and social development has laid the material foundation for education reform. From compulsory education to higher education, from curriculum reform to institutional innovation, and from quantitative growth to qualitative improvement, China’s education reform reflects value orientations such as standardization and diversification.
Some overseas scholars point out that China has conducted beneficial reform explorations in terms of safeguarding and improving people’s livelihoods and promoting common prosperity. Alison Booth and others focus on Chinese labor relations, arguing that proactive trade unions have provided effective protection and services for urban and rural migrant workers, with union members enjoying better treatment regarding wages, insurance, fringe benefits, and the signing of written contracts. Elena Meyer-Clement found, through research in Henan, Jiangsu, Anhui, and Jiangxi provinces, that "rural community construction" [11] is an important policy for China's new-type urbanization and rural transformation. Rural community construction has accelerated the adjustment of rural spatial structures.
(5) Reforms in the Ecological Civilization Sphere
Ecological and environmental protection is a global issue, and overseas scholars pay close attention to the achievements of China’s ecological civilization construction. Tao-chiu Lam and others argue that Chinese local governments have continuously strengthened the construction of environmental protection systems, replenished and adjusted the regulatory and enforcement functions of environmental protection bureaus, and implemented "de-profitization" reforms for public institutions [12] in the environmental sector, effectively constructing a local environmental protection governance system. Jessica Teets and others, based on a case analysis of water environment governance in Zhejiang Province from 2012 to 2018, found that social organizations play an active role in ecological governance. By mobilizing the public to collect and integrate water pollution information, social organizations participate deeply in environmental governance practices, achieving not only the goals of environmental action but also increasing public satisfaction with the government's environmental policies.
Some overseas scholars focus on the legal reforms of China’s ecological civilization construction, arguing that China is searching for new ways to govern ecological civilization through reforms in legislation, law enforcement, and the judiciary. Benjamin van Rooij found that local protectionism is an obstacle that China’s environmental regulatory enforcement must break through. The central government has reduced the negative impact of local protectionism on environmental enforcement by narrowing the discretion of environmental law enforcement, employing "campaign-style governance" [13], implementing vertical management reforms for local environmental departments, and altering the incentive structures for local leaders.
Furthermore, other scholars explore reforms in the field of ecological civilization from the perspective of intergovernmental relations. Genia Kostka suggests that simply analyzing environmental legal norms is insufficient to explain China's environmental governance practices, as central-local fiscal structures and the cadre incentive system profoundly influence the effectiveness of local environmental governance. She believes that a green transition can lead to significant improvements in environmental outcomes, but the upward centralization of environmental powers is not a panacea; the next step should be to effectively mobilize the initiative of local governments in environmental governance reform. Sarah Eaton and others believe that China has implemented vertical management reforms in the field of environmental protection, improving governance capacity through accountability systems and the division of fiscal and administrative powers. However, some shortcomings remain in managing trans-regional ecological issues, and there should be reflection on how to further incentivize local governments to strengthen environmental protection cooperation.
(6) Reforms in the Sphere of Party Building
Overseas scholars have gained a new understanding of the status, role, and function of the CPC in China's national governance. Kerry Brown argues that the CPC is different from political parties in Western countries, possessing unique discourse, history, and ideological characteristics. Since 2012, Chinese leaders have proposed reform visions in various fields of modern polity construction, such as state capacity, the rule of law, and democratic accountability. It can be said with certainty that no other country could do what China is doing so quickly and on such a large scale. The CPC has strengthened its leadership over national development goals and macro-strategic directions, focusing on improving the executive capacity of state power organs and administrative institutions.
The construction of the Communist Party of China’s cadre corps and the dynamics of its reform have attracted extensive attention from overseas scholars. Melanie Manion argues that China’s cadre selection and appointment mechanism effectively assesses the performance and ability of leading cadres while acquiring comprehensive information through multiple channels. She notes that the Chinese cadre system is characterized by a combination of institutionality and flexibility, alongside a blend of universality and heterogeneity. Bruce Dickson points out that while the cadre corps has gradually become younger, better educated, and more professional, attention must be paid to rectifying the party-joining motives and interest orientations of new members to further enhance the cohesion of the cadre corps and public trust. David Shambaugh has systematically researched China’s cadre education and training system. He notes that China possesses a vast and complex cadre training system; Party Schools (Academies of Governance) [14] at all levels and cadre colleges serve both as training institutions for improving professional knowledge and governance capacity, and as vital institutions for providing guidance to cadres on major policies. Charlotte Lee argues that by building this vast and complex system, the CPC has achieved large-scale, normalized cadre training. The curricula offered by these institutions balance theoretical education, Party spirit education [15], and practical management skills, effectively improving cadres' ability to adapt to organizational change. The CPC’s high regard for cadre education and training contributes to building a learning-oriented party and improving its governing capacity and leadership level.
The Third Plenary Session of the 18th CPC Central Committee made major arrangements for reforming the Party’s discipline inspection system and improving the leadership system and work mechanism for anti-corruption. Andrew Wedeman considers that since the 18th National Congress, Chinese leaders have launched a "Tiger Hunt" anti-corruption campaign. According to the Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) published by Transparency International, China sits at a global medium level; compared to many other developing countries, China’s degree of integrity is higher and its anti-corruption efforts are greater. Flora Sapio has researched the historical evolution of the CPC’s discipline inspection and supervision organs. She argues that the National Commission of Supervision (NCS) established in 2018 integrated existing anti-corruption agencies and functions to serve as the highest supervisory organ. This institutional arrangement was not determined by any established developmental path, but was a scientific decision based on China’s own national conditions and institutional goals.
Furthermore, some scholars have researched changes in the CPC’s leadership over state-owned enterprises (SOEs). [The scholars] Baker and Brødsgaard analyzed the CPC’s role in SOE corporate governance. Their research found that through the implementation of reform measures such as "bidirectional entry and cross-appointment" [16] and the pre-procedural replacement of "Three Importants and One Large" [17] decision-making, the Party consolidated its dominant position in SOE personnel appointments and major decision-making, creating a new model of corporate governance.
III. Main Characteristics of Overseas Research on Comprehensively Deepening Reform
Since the 18th National Congress of the CPC, research in the English-speaking academic community regarding China’s comprehensively deepening reform has exhibited several new characteristics.
(1) From the perspective of research content: The combination of macro-strategies and micro-topics covers every key field of comprehensively deepening reform. Overseas research includes macro-level topics such as total goals, systems, mechanisms, and implementation methods, but also covers specific reforms in the economy, politics, society, and Party building. This indicates that comprehensively deepening reform occupies a significant position in recent overseas China studies. A considerable portion of English literature consists of aggregate studies on the reform of China’s national governance system, the reform of the macroeconomic system, and Party building. Simultaneously, a large volume of empirical analyses based on micro-cases has emerged regarding the reform of Party and state institutions, SOE reform, rural reform, higher education reform, and targeted poverty alleviation. These studies provide vivid material for the international community to understand the frontiers of Chinese reform. Overseas scholars synthetically utilize various methods such as textual research, historical analysis, and field investigations. Most literature uses statistical data and case materials from China, and some researchers have collected first-hand data through questionnaires and in-depth interviews.
(2) From the perspective of research types: Area and regional studies predominate, while disciplinary theoretical research is increasing. Most English literature adopts an area studies perspective, which emphasizes revealing the uniqueness and complexity of Chinese reform and evaluating its goals, processes, effectiveness, and future prospects. Area studies are adept at sorting through and analyzing official documents and media reports. However, because the publication cycle for English papers and monographs is long, some published literature suffers from dated data, delayed case updates, and inaccurate judgments of reality. Additionally, research based on theories from political science, economics, and public administration has increased, forming an intersecting and complementary relationship with area studies. A major difference is that disciplinary research not only treats China’s reform as a research object but also attempts to extract distinct theoretical perspectives from the Chinese experience to engage in dialogue with classical disciplinary theories, testing or challenging existing theories and striving to create new ones based on the Chinese experience. The advantage of area studies lies in the full presentation of the process and details of reform, while its limitation is an over-emphasis on uniqueness and a lack of vision for dialogue with general reform theories. The advantage of disciplinary research is the use of general principles to analyze causal mechanisms, but since these theories originated in external practices, some analyses of Chinese cases suffer from "fitting the foot to the shoe" (procrusteanism).
(3) From the perspective of author groups: The distribution of scholars from various countries is broad, and collaborative research between domestic and foreign scholars is increasing. Overseas scholars and institutions researching China come from a wide range of sources, including senior scholars from world-renowned institutions like the Harvard-Yenching Institute, the University of Oxford China Centre, and the East Asian Institute at the National University of Singapore, as well as scholars from other universities who were not originally specialized in China studies. Simultaneously, an eye-catching phenomenon is the increasing number of papers co-authored by overseas and domestic Chinese scholars. Domestic scholars have played an active role in "telling the China story well" [18] regarding reform through collaboration or independent publication.
(4) From the perspective of viewpoints and tendencies: Recognition and support, sincere suggestions, and ideological prejudice coexist. Most researchers recognize and support China’s implementation of comprehensively deepening reform and positively evaluate its achievements. They believe China has achieved important breakthroughs in improving the system of socialism with Chinese characteristics and advancing the modernization of the national governance system and governance capacity, expressing optimism about prospects in key areas. Many scholars have offered suggestions based on field research. For example, in economic reform, they suggest further optimizing the business environment, improving total factor productivity, and strengthening intellectual property protection. In social reform, they suggest deepening the social security system and optimizing income distribution. However, it must be noted that some area studies originated from the geopolitical needs of great powers during the Cold War. Their personnel find it difficult to shake off ideological prejudice, leading to a lack of objectivity. Some still fail to view the achievements objectively, offering one-sided interpretations of problems and maintaining a negative attitude toward the future of reform.
IV. Conclusion
Comprehensively deepening reform is a compelling field in recent overseas China studies. Overseas scholars positively evaluate the progress made and pay attention to the efforts of the CPC in breaking down systemic and institutional barriers across the economy, politics, culture, society, ecological civilization, and Party building. Their research provides diverse perspectives for understanding the theoretical, practical, and institutional results achieved. Some suggestions possess reference value for planning the next round of key tasks.
Indisputably, some English literature suffers from misreadings and misjudgments, ideological bias, or low academic quality. Some selectively ignore the progressive significance of reform to sensationalize difficulties. Others acknowledge achievements but tie them to the "China Threat Theory." Some lack depth in investigation or simply apply existing theories to evaluate China, lacking academic rigor.
On the "new journey" of the New Era, to tell the story of Chinese reform well and display its dynamics truly and three-dimensionally, we should further promote innovation: First, correctly understand the relationship between "institutional confidence" [19] and comprehensively deepening reform. Firmly uphold the fundamental system while learning from the achievements of human civilization to optimize systems affecting development. Second, innovate the discourse system of Chinese reform narratives to enhance the effectiveness of international communication. Target different regions and audiences to tell the stories of how the "Leader of the People" [20] personally pushes reform and how the masses create wisdom. Third, strengthen support for domestic scholars to spread China’s voice. Encourage them to publish in international journals using Chinese theory to explain Chinese practice, constructing an independent Chinese knowledge system. Fourth, strengthen academic ties with overseas institutions and scholars. Regularly track research dynamics and use international conferences to build platforms for cooperation, facilitating overseas scholars to conduct investigations in China.