Xi stresses writing new chapter in reform, opening-up

BEIJING -- Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday stressed upholding fundamental principles, breaking new ground and taking solid steps to write a new chapter in reform and opening-up on the new journey.

Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, made the remarks while presiding over the first meeting of the commission for deepening overall reform of the 20th CPC Central Committee, which he heads.

This year marks the first year for fully implementing the guiding principles of the 20th CPC National Congress. It also marks the 45th anniversary of China's reform and opening-up and the 10th anniversary of the third plenary session of the 18th CPC Central Committee, said Xi.

To achieve the goals and tasks on the new journey of the new era, deepening overall reform should be taken as the fundamental driving force for advancing Chinese modernization and an important leverage to stabilize the overall situation, deal with changes, and make new advances.

Li Qiang, Wang Huning and Cai Qi, who are members of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and deputy heads of the central commission for deepening overall reform, also attended the meeting.

The meeting approved documents on strengthening enterprises' principal position in sci-tech innovation, enhancing and improving the management of the state-owned economy to effectively support Chinese modernization, and boosting the private economy.

It also approved working rules for the central commission for deepening overall reform, those for the commission's special groups and office, and key tasks of the commission in 2023.

The meeting called for strengthening the principal position of enterprises in sci-tech innovation, which it said is a crucial move to deepen structural scientific and technological reform and achieve high-standard self-reliance and strength in science and technology.

Efforts must be made to establish an innovation system in which enterprises are the main players, and enterprises, universities and research institutes are efficiently collaborating and deeply integrated.

There should be greater support for enterprises' innovation with a focus on national strategies and major demands of industrial development, according to the meeting.

Private enterprises should be actively encouraged and effectively guided to participate in China's major innovation endeavors and play their role in the innovation of core technologies in key fields and making breakthroughs in significant original technologies.

The meeting also stressed deepening the reform of state-owned enterprises to build a management system of the state-owned economy with top-level coordination, well-defined rights and obligations, efficient operation and effective supervision.

Supporting the private economy is a consistent principle of the CPC Central Committee, the meeting noted. To promote the development and growth of the private economy, it is necessary to improve the development environment and remove the institutional barriers that keep private enterprises away from fair market competition.

It is also vital to help private enterprises find their right position in high-quality development and improve their development quality via self-reform and development, business compliance, as well as transformation and upgrading, said the meeting, which urged efforts to ensure precise implementation of preferential policies to effectively address the enterprises' difficulties.

The meeting stressed that since the 18th CPC National Congress in 2012, China has been working on comprehensively deepening reform with great political courage, and opened new horizons in this respect with unprecedented strength.

In the first decade of the new era, China promoted reform on all fronts and in a profound and fundamental way, and made historic, revolutionary and groundbreaking achievements, the meeting said.

No other country or political party can pursue bold self-reform with such political courage and sense of historical responsibility, nor advance reform with similar scope, scale and strength within such a short period, revealing the distinct features and notable advantage of the system of socialism with Chinese characteristics, according to the meeting.

To step up efforts to comprehensively deepen reform on the new journey, it is a must to uphold and strengthen the Party's leadership, the meeting stressed.

More work should be done to address difficulties in major reform tasks, improve investigations and research, ensure the reform measures are fully implemented and keep all sectors motivated for reform, according to the meeting.