Why the CPC's third plenary session is important

Observers believe that an upcoming meeting of the Communist Party of China (CPC) in November will follow Party tradition and be a springboard for major national reform. In a meeting on Tuesday, the Political Bureau of CPC Central Committee decided that the Third Plenary Session of the 18th CPC Central Committee will be held in November in Beijing to discuss major issues concerning comprehensive reform. The meeting comes as China faces major economic and social challenges. It will, to some extent, determine the direction of reform of the new leadership. On Tuesday, the 25-member Political Bureau emphasized the importance of reform and how it concerns the overall work of the Party and the government. "There is no way for China to reverse or even stop the process," it said, adding that reform and opening up have "only a progressive tense, no perfect tense." The meeting urged the Party to fully recognize contradictions and difficulties that reform now faces, calling for courage to tackle grave issues. Chi Fulin, director of the China Institute for Reform and Development, told Xinhua that the discussion of reform in Tuesday's meeting showed the Party has a sober and profound view of the country's situation. It also showed the Party's determination and courage to succeed. The meeting proposed innovation in theory, system, science, technology and culture with wholescale reform across the board. "Besides the economic sector, the Third Plenary Session will promote administrative reform, " Chi added. "It is quite clear that the session will map out the route for all-encompassing, deepened reform, with major breakthroughs in significant fields," Chi said. The CPC has a tradition of proposing key changes in third plenary sessions since 1978 when the third plenary session of the 11th CPC Central Committee decided to implement reform and opening up, ending decades of seclusion. The third plenum of the 14th CPC Central Committee in 1993 endorsed the socialist market economy, paving the way for China's economic takeoff in the subsequent two decades. The Party needs time to identify problems after the national congresses put forward detailed goals for development. Third plenary sessions comes at just the right time to address those issues. That's why, according to Professor Dai Yanjun from the Party School of CPC Central Committee, the third plenary sessions are important for China's reforms. The 18th National Congress of CPC held in November last year put forward many detailed goals in the economic, political, cultural and other sectors, including transformation of the economic growth pattern, promotion of political reform, building a socialist country with cultural strength, and an innovative social administration. In less than a year, China's new leadership has introduced a package focused on streamlining administration and delegating power to lower levels, abolishing a slew of administrative examinations and approvals. The new leadership has called for mobilizing the initiative of the society and purchasing public services from social organizations rather than providing them by itself, all smoothing the path for reform. Officials will deliberate plans for creating better environment to promote economic development, as well as power supervision and restraint, better serving the people and improving government efficiency. "Corruption, which is hated by the people, will be another significant subject," said Chi, adding that the CPC has made only modest achievements in combating corruption since the 18th National Congress, through a series of campaigns. Despite ever enhanced strength on anticorruption work, the situation is far from rosy, as Tuesday's meeting said, "corruption is still a common phenomenon, the soil that nourishes corruption still exists, and the situation remains critical and complicated." "I believe further measures on anticorruption will be introduced at the Third Plenary Session of the 18th CPC Central Committee, especially measures on fighting via an anticorruption system and mechanism to keep power within the cage of regulations," Chi added.