Red Star News:

Reform of the economic system is the top priority of comprehensively deepening reform. What achievements and progress have been made in economic system reform since the 18th CPC National Congress? What will be the focus of the following-up efforts? Thank you. 

Su Wei:

Since the 18th CPC National Congress, under the strong leadership of the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core, reforms of the economic system, which aim to balance the relationship between government and market, have been advanced in a comprehensive and systematic manner, with milestone achievements being made in key areas and at key links. As such, the socialist market economic system has become more systematically perfected and mature, and the modernization of the country's system and capability for governance has been advanced in an effective way. New achievements have been witnessed in the following four aspects:

First, new achievements have been made in reforms to spur the vitality of market entities. Top-level design for the state capital and state-owned enterprises (SOEs) reforms has been put in place. The layout and structure of the state-owned sector have been steadily advanced, and breakthroughs have been made in building the modern corporate system with distinctive Chinese features. The mixed ownership sector has witnessed solid development, and the system of state capital supervision by focusing on capital management has been improved. Market-oriented reforms of competitive links in major sectors have steadily advanced. A better development environment has been created for the non-public sector. The number of private enterprises in the country has quadrupled in the past decade from 10.85 million to 44.57 million. 

Second, new achievements have been made in the reform of the market system. An all-around property rights protection system in terms of law-making, law enforcement, and justice is taking shape. We have comprehensively implemented a negative list system for market access and established a fair competition review system to sort through and do away with regulations and practices that impede the development of a unified market and fair competition. We have improved the social credit system, setting up a new-type credit-based supervision mechanism. Accelerated efforts have been made to improve the market-based production factor allocation system where prices are determined by the market, the flow of factors is self-decided and in an orderly manner, and the allocation is efficient and fair. Therefore, a strong domestic market has been created, with its economy surpassing 100 trillion yuan, its population reaching 1.4 billion, and its middle-income earners hitting around 400 million.

Third, new achievements have been made in macroeconomic governance reforms. Continued efforts have been made to improve the macro regulation system that coordinates policies regarding employment, industries, investment, consumption, environmental protection and various regions, with national development plans as the strategic guidance and fiscal and monetary policies as the main methods. New methods for macro regulation have been developed. Regulation practices have been made more flexible and efficient, including range-based, targeted, and well-timed regulations, as well as counter-cyclical and cross-cycle adjustments. As the result, the economy has been running within an appropriate range. We have intensified reforms to streamline government administration, delegate power, improve regulation, and upgrade services, issuing regulations to improve the business environment. We have promoted reforms to the government approval system, greatly cutting the number of items that require government approvals. By doing so, China's business environment has remarkably improved, with its global ranking jumping to 31st from 96th in 2013. 

Fourth, new progress has been made in the reform of the new system for a high-level open economy. A total of 21 pilot free trade zones have been established thanks to coordinated efforts, and more than 260 institutional innovation outcomes have been replicated and applied elsewhere. The Hainan Free Trade Port has gotten off to a good start. The system of pre-entry national treatment plus negative list management for foreign investment has been implemented. We have adopted the foreign investment law. The single-window system for international trade has been established and implemented in the ports nationwide, thus greatly facilitating international trade. 

Going forward, we will step up efforts to promote reforms in four aspects. First, we will strive for the high-level systems underpinning the market economy to ensure full and equal protection for various property rights in accordance with the law. We will refine the negative list system for market access, improving the policy framework and implementation mechanism for fair competition. We will also ensure a law-based social credit system. Second, we will strive to create high-quality market entities. Continued efforts will be made to improve the modern corporate system with distinctive Chinese features. We will deepen the mixed ownership reform in a proactive and steady manner and reform the structure of private enterprises at a faster pace, offering support and guidance to promote the well-regulated and healthy development of capital. More efforts will be made to help Chinese companies become world-class outfits with global competitiveness. Third, we will strive for a high-standard market system. We will advance reforms for the market-based allocation of production factors and pilot a comprehensive reform on the market-based allocation of production factors. We will improve the systems underpinning data-driven factors and build a unified national market at a faster pace. Fourth, we will strive to establish a high-efficiency system of macroeconomic governance. We will improve the system of macroeconomic policies and intensify the synergies of various policies. We will also improve the mechanisms for cross-cycle macro policy adjustment and improve our expectation management system in a bid to keep the major economic indicators within a proper range.