Reform roadmap before key meeting (2)

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Reform roadmap before key meeting (2)

(China Daily) 08:27, November 04, 2013

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A construction site; battling air pollution; former railways minister Liu Zhijun, who received a suspended death sentence in July for taking bribes and abuse of power. The plenum is likely to tackle problems as wide ranging as healthcare, urbanization, the environment and corruption.

New model

"One of the key reform objectives for China is to move toward a new model of sustainable and equitable development, one in which there is more balance between ecological sustainability and growth and provides better sustenance opportunities for all," says Gregory Chin, associate professor of political science at York University in Toronto.

It is logical to expect that more measures in this regard will be announced at the political gathering because the Party has already pursued "ecological civilization" as one of the five pillars of its vision, although much still needs to be done on environmental aspects, he says.

In this regard, Chin says, policymakers need to take more steps to ensure ecological sustainability, pay more attention to the biosphere (and human life within it), rethink how much economic growth is needed and how it can be achieved in more efficient and sustainable ways.

At the same time, growing disparities in wealth and opportunities need to be reduced, while measures are needed to ensure clean, ethical and fair governance.

Glyn Ford, a former member of the European Parliament, says China should opt for an incremental, rather than radical, reform agenda.

He says continuation of balanced development in urban and rural areas and coastal and inland regions is needed while the country tackles other pressing issues such as corruption, rule of law and the need to stabilize population movements. "I think the imbalance between the rural and urban, coastal and inland regions and rule of law are the biggest challenges that China faces," Ford says.