Guo Qiang: Further Deepening Reform Comprehensively Must Adhere to Institutional Building as the Main Thread

The meeting of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee held on June 27 pointed out that further comprehensively deepening reform must summarize and apply the valuable experience of comprehensively deepening reform since the beginning of reform and opening up, and especially in the New Era. The meeting proposed a series of principles to be implemented for further comprehensively deepening reform, including: adhering to institutional construction as the main thread; strengthening top-level design and overall planning; simultaneous breaking and establishing while emphasizing establishing before breaking ^[1]; fortifying fundamental systems; improving basic systems; and innovating important systems. Deeply grasping this principle is of great significance for further comprehensively deepening reform and advancing Chinese-path modernization.

1. Reform and opening up in the New Era possesses many new connotations and characteristics, a key point of which is the increased weight of institutional construction.

In November 2012, during the first group study session of the Political Bureau of the 18th CPC Central Committee, General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized that we must "place institutional construction in a prominent position" and "construct a systemic, complete, scientifically standardized, and effective institutional system to make systems in all aspects more mature and stereotypic." In 2018, at the conference celebrating the 40th anniversary of reform and opening up, General Secretary Xi pointed out: "The practice of 40 years of reform and opening up has taught us that institutions are fundamental, overall, stable, and long-term issues concerning the development of the cause of the Party and the state." At the Fourth Plenary Session of the 19th CPC Central Committee in 2019, General Secretary Xi gave the "Explanation on the 'Decision of the CPC Central Committee on Several Major Issues Concerning Upholding and Improving the System of Socialism with Chinese Characteristics and Advancing the Modernization of China's Governance System and Capacity for Governance,'" noting that compared to the past, reform and opening up in the New Era has many new connotations and characteristics, an important point of which is the heavier weight of institutional construction.

In planning further expansion of deep reforms in the New Era, we must place institutional construction and the construction of governance capacity in a more prominent position. We must continue to deepen the reform of systems and mechanisms in all fields and aspects, promote systems to become more mature and stereotypic, and advance the modernization of the state governance system and capacity for governance. Our Party has defined the general goal of comprehensively deepening reform as "improving and developing the system of socialism with Chinese characteristics and advancing the modernization of China’s governance system and capacity for governance," continuously demonstrating the advantages of the system of socialism with Chinese characteristics and steadily increasing the momentum and vitality of socialist modernization.

The Fourth Plenary Session of the 19th CPC Central Committee systematically summarized the achievements of institutional construction over the 70 years of the People's Republic of China. It deeply elucidated the great significance and general requirements of upholding and improving the system of socialism with Chinese characteristics and advancing the modernization of the state governance system and capacity for governance. It also systematically clarified the significant advantages of our national system and governance system across 13 aspects, further strengthening our institutional confidence. Simultaneously, it made strategic deployments for 13 aspects of institutional systems, such as upholding and improving the system for Party leadership. We must clearly see that our system and governance framework are not yet perfect. Even those systems with significant advantages still require further improvement and development.

The 20th CPC National Congress established the central task of comprehensively advancing the great cause of building a strong country and national rejuvenation through Chinese-path modernization. To further comprehensively deepen reform, we must closely follow the theme of advancing Chinese-path modernization, anchor ourselves to the general goal of continuing to improve and develop the system of socialism with Chinese characteristics and advancing the modernization of the state governance system and capacity for governance. We must resolutely strip away ideological concepts and systemic or mechanistic defects that hinder Chinese-path modernization, focusing on breaking down deep-seated institutional barriers and structural contradictions to continuously inject strong momentum and provide solid institutional guarantees for Chinese-path modernization.

2. Comprehensively deepening reform requires strengthening top-level design and overall planning.

The reason institutional construction carries more weight in the New Era is that reform and opening up now face more deep-seated systemic and mechanistic issues. There are higher requirements for the top-level design of reform, and a stronger demand for the systemic, holistic, and synergistic nature of reform; correspondingly, the tasks of establishing rules, regulations, and systems are heavier. Entering the New Era, reform has entered the "deep-water zone" ^[2]. It can be said that the easy, crowd-pleasing reforms have been completed; the "delicious meat" has been eaten, and what remains are "hard bones to chew" ^[3]. Therefore, we must strengthen top-level design and overall planning on the basis of comprehensive and systematic research of problems and mastery of basic laws, striving for further comprehensively deepening reform to be system-integrated, synergistic, and efficient.

A prominent feature of comprehensively deepening reform is the significantly enhanced interconnectedness and interactivity of reforms. General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: "Comprehensively deepening reform involves the overall work of the Party and the state, various fields of economic and social development, and many major theoretical and practical issues. It is a complex systemic engineering project. As reform continues to deepen, the interconnectedness and interactivity of reforms in various fields and links have significantly increased. Every reform will have an important impact on others, and every reform requires the coordination and cooperation of others." Comprehensively deepening reform requires strengthening top-level design and holistic planning, as well as strengthening research into the interconnectedness, systematicity, and feasibility of various reforms. On the basis of basically determining major reform measures, we must deeply study the correlation between reforms in different fields and the coupling of various reform measures. we must rigorously demonstrate the feasibility of reform measures and grasp the major relationships in comprehensively deepening reform so that various reform measures coordinate in policy orientation, promote each other during implementation, and complement each other in actual results.

To further comprehensively deepen reform, we must adhere to a systems perspective and properly handle major relationships such as those between the economy and society, the government and the market, efficiency and fairness, vitality and order, and development and security, thereby enhancing the systemic, holistic, and synergistic nature of reform. Centering on further liberating and enhancing social vitality, we must comprehensively and deeply analyze the root causes of the Four Winds, and construct a state governance system that promotes Chinese-path modernization from the perspectives of straightening out the relationship between the central task of economic construction and other work, and mobilizing the initiative of both the central and local governments.

Party leadership is the fundamental guarantee for further comprehensively deepening reform and advancing Chinese-path modernization. We must uphold the CPC Central Committee’s centralized and unified leadership over further comprehensively deepening reform; this is the key to achieving systemic integration, synergy, and efficiency. At the same time, we must maintain a high degree of consciousness in leading social revolution through the Party’s self-revolution, adhere to the spirit of reform in managing and governing the Party, and properly handle the relationship between upholding Party leadership and mobilizing the initiative of all sectors. This ensures that Party leadership always conforms to objective laws, the times, and the will of the people—not only guiding the direction and path but also adding momentum and vitality.

3. Comprehensively deepening reform must prioritize simultaneous breaking and establishing while emphasizing establishing before breaking, fortifying fundamental systems, improving basic systems, and innovating important systems.

Reform involves both "breaking" and "establishing." If the method is correct, one achieves twice the result with half the effort; if the method is flawed, one gets half the result with twice the effort, or even produces negative effects. Both "breaking before establishing" and "establishing before breaking" have their logic; the key depends on the object and the actual situation. The 2021 Central Economic Work Conference pointed out that "adjusting policies and promoting reform should grasp the timing, degree, and effectiveness, and adhere to establishing before breaking and making steady progress." The 2023 Central Economic Work Conference pointed out the need to adhere to "seeking progress while maintaining stability, promoting stability through progress, and establishing before breaking." The emphasis on "establishing before breaking" is a far-sighted methodological guide based on deep insight into the new situations and problems faced in further comprehensively deepening reform and advancing Chinese-path modernization. Comprehensively deepening reform in the New Era requires us to strengthen top-level design and overall planning, while simultaneously breaking and establishing, prioritizing establishing before breaking; it requires both overall coordination and pilot projects.

The system of socialism with Chinese characteristics is a rigorous and complete scientific institutional system. The pillars and beams ^[4] that support it are the fundamental, basic, and important systems. In 2020, at the 17th meeting of the Central Committee for Comprehensively Deepening Reform, General Secretary Xi Jinping noted while reviewing the reform work of recent years: "This is a profound transformation of the state system and governance system. We have always highlighted institutional construction as the main thread, continuously improved the institutional framework, fortified fundamental systems, improved basic systems, and innovated important systems." The comprehensive deepening of reform since the Third Plenary Session of the 18th CPC Central Committee has been a profound transformation. We will continue to follow this path in further reforms.

Fortifying fundamental systems: Fundamental systems reflect the essential content and fundamental characteristics of the system of socialism with Chinese characteristics. For example, the system of Party leadership is the fundamental leadership system of our country. Party leadership is the fundamental guarantee for doing all work of the Party and state well; it is the fundamental point of our political stability, economic development, ethnic unity, and social stability, and it must never be shaken in the slightest. The system of people’s congresses is the fundamental political institutional arrangement for the organic unity of upholding Party leadership, the people being masters of the country, and the rule of law, ensuring the Party leads the people in effectively governing the country according to law. Our Party has established and upheld the fundamental system of the guiding position of Marxism in the ideological field. In the New Era, the Party's innovative theories have taken root in the hearts of the people, and the situation in the ideological field has undergone a holistic and fundamental change. On the new journey, we must further fortify fundamental systems with firm institutional confidence, giving full play to their top-level decisive, all-encompassing, and overall guiding roles within the system of socialism with Chinese characteristics.

Improving basic systems: The basic systems identified by our Party include the basic political systems and the basic economic systems, among others. These are the primary systems for governance established through the Party’s arduous exploration and innovation over more than 70 years of governing practice. Basic political systems—such as the system of CPC-led multi-party cooperation and political consultation, the system of regional ethnic autonomy, and the system of community-level self-governance—have formed institutional advantages for the Party to lead the people in effectively governing the country. Regarding the basic economic system, the 15th CPC National Congress clearly stated that keeping public ownership as the mainstay while allowing diverse forms of ownership to develop together is a basic economic system in the primary stage of socialism. The Fourth Plenary Session of the 19th CPC Central Committee proposed that the socialist basic economic systems—including the mainstay of public ownership with the joint development of multiple ownership forms, the mainstay of distribution according to work with the coexistence of multiple distribution modes, and the socialist market economy—reflect the superiority of the socialist system while adapting to the level of productive forces in the primary stage of socialism. This is a great creation of the Party and the people. The Amendment to the Constitution of the Communist Party of China adopted by the 20th CPC National Congress adjusted the expression of the socialist basic economic system to: we must uphold and improve the basic economic systems such as public ownership as the mainstay with the joint development of multiple ownership forms, distribution according to work as the mainstay with the coexistence of multiple distribution modes, and the socialist market economy. On the new journey, we must uphold and improve these basic systems and continuously expand the breadth and depth of reform.

Innovating important systems: The Fourth Plenary Session of the 19th CPC Central Committee sorted through important systems in various aspects and put forward clear requirements for upholding and consolidating, improving and developing, and observing and executing them. These important systems connect the top-level of state governance with the primary level of all aspects of social production and life. As domestic and international situations change profoundly and central tasks are clearly focused, there still exist ideological concepts and systemic or mechanistic defects that hinder the advancement of Chinese-path modernization; these must be resolutely eliminated. On the new journey, we must innovate important systems, resolutely reform and innovate with maximum intensity and the highest standards, and promote the construction of a systemic, complete, scientifically standardized, and effective institutional order.