Profile: Xi Jinping the reformer
This story is an updated version of a same-titled piece released by Xinhua English newswire on March 12, 2024
Good afternoon. Today’s newsletter may well be the lengthiest edition I've ever published.
The 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) starts its third plenary session in Beijing on Monday morning. Keen observers of China might remember that on March 12 this year, Xinhua News Agency issued an article titled "Profile: Xi Jinping the reformer," describing Xi as "another outstanding reformer in the country after Deng Xiaoping."
Today, aligning with the start of the third plenary session, Xinhua released both an updated version of this article via its wire service to subscribers, and for the first time, a Chinese version. This revision reaffirms Xi’s status as "another outstanding reformer in the country after Deng Xiaoping" and incorporates additional insights pertinent to the themes of the third plenary session.
Due to the extensive length of the original article, I have selected some key highlights from the updated English version for the first part of today’s newsletter. The complete text in English can be found in the second part, and the full Chinese version is presented in the third part. Please note that the selections reflect my personal perspective and not necessarily that of Xinhua.
Highlights:
The ongoing session is considered on par with other reform-themed "third plenums," including the one in 1978 when Deng Xiaoping kick-started China's reform and opening-up drive.
In the run-up to the current plenum, Xi has been busy promoting reform, urging efforts to "emancipate the mind, liberate and develop social productive forces, and unleash and enhance social vitality," so as to "provide strong impetus and institutional guarantees for Chinese modernization." This has raised expectations for a new round of profound reforms, dispelling concerns about whether China's reform is "stagnating," or whether the Chinese economy is "losing steam."
Nevertheless, faced with a myriad of old and new challenges, China is now in a critical period for accelerating its reform pace.
Xi is regarded as another outstanding reformer in the country after Deng Xiaoping. The two leaders faced the same mission -- to modernize China, but against strikingly different backdrops ... Yet extra effort is required as China now faces people's ever-growing needs for a better life, and is confronted with major challenges such as downward economic pressure following the COVID-19 pandemic and risks associated with the real estate sector, local government debts, and some small and medium-sized financial institutions.
Seeking a better future for the country and its people, Xi highlighted reform and opening-up as "an important means" to realize Chinese modernization and extend the country's development miracle.
Xi's commitment to reform has been consistent all along. In 1969, when he was not even 16, Xi was sent to Liangjiahe village in northwest China's Shaanxi Province to do farm labor. There, he experienced hunger. The young man's aspiration at that time was to ensure that all fellow villagers could have enough to eat.
Xi's commitment to reform was influenced by his father, Xi Zhongxun, an old revolutionary as well as a champion of reform and opening-up. In 1978, the senior Xi was appointed as a major official of south China's Guangdong Province. He helped build up the country's first special economic zones including Shenzhen, Zhuhai and Shantou.
In 2014, during an inspection tour of SAIC Motor, a major Chinese carmaker, Xi emphasized the significance of developing products that cater to diverse needs and highlighted the importance of new energy vehicles in strengthening China's position in the automotive sector. In the following decade, Xi became a big fan of electric cars, visiting automotive companies, touring laboratories, and showing great interest in trying new home-developed models. He encouraged carmakers to focus on product quality and cultivate market competitiveness. The new energy industry is, in fact, part of Xi's vision of "new quality productive forces." This new phrase first mentioned by Xi during last year's local inspections has quickly become a buzzword for the Chinese economy, but Xi had started relevant practice since a much earlier date. Back in the 1970s in the Liangjiahe village of Shaanxi, Xi became the first person across the province to introduce the use of biogas-generating facilities, which could be categorized as "new quality productive forces" at that time, to give fellow villagers a clean replacement of firewood and kerosene used for cooking and lighting.
He likened China's lack of strong innovation capability to the Achilles' heel of an economic giant. "Only reformers can advance, only innovators can thrive, and only those who reform and innovate will prevail," he said.
Carrying on Deng's legacy and with a strong sense of responsibility, Xi is leading China on a path of modernization that not only creates economic miracles and development opportunities, but also explores a new form of human civilization. "Our modernization is both the most challenging and the greatest," said Xi. "This is an unprecedented path, but we will continue to explore it and forge ahead with courage."
Profile: Xi Jinping the reformer
BEIJING, July 15 (Xinhua) -- China's leader Xi Jinping is rolling out a set of new reforms that will determine the growth trajectory of the world's second-largest economy, as the Communist Party of China (CPC) leadership started a four-day policy meeting in Beijing on Monday morning. At the opening of the Third Plenary Session of the 20th CPC Central Committee, Xi, as the general secretary of the Committee, delivered a work report on behalf of the Political Bureau and expounded on a draft decision on further comprehensively deepening reform and advancing Chinese modernization.
The ongoing session is considered on par with other reform-themed "third plenums," including the one in 1978 when Deng Xiaoping kick-started China's reform and opening-up drive.
In the run-up to the current plenum, Xi has been busy promoting reform, urging efforts to "emancipate the mind, liberate and develop social productive forces, and unleash and enhance social vitality," so as to "provide strong impetus and institutional guarantees for Chinese modernization."
This has raised expectations for a new round of profound reforms, dispelling concerns about whether China's reform is "stagnating," or whether the Chinese economy is "losing steam."
Since Xi assumed the top office more than a decade ago, China has entered a "new era." The country's economic strength has grown, and its international prestige has continued to rise. Reform is the hallmark of this era.
Nevertheless, faced with a myriad of old and new challenges, China is now in a critical period for accelerating its reform pace.
REFORM WILL NOT STOP, OPENING-UP WILL NOT CEASE
Xi is regarded as another outstanding reformer in the country after Deng Xiaoping.
The two leaders faced the same mission -- to modernize China, but against strikingly different backdrops.
When Deng launched reform and opening-up in the late 1970s, China's per-capita GDP was less than 200 U.S. dollars. His cause of reform and opening-up started almost from scratch.
In 2012, when Xi was elected general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, China had become the world's second-largest economy, with a per-capita GDP of over 6,000 dollars. But growth was shifting gears and many advantages, including low labor costs, had started to diminish.
Instead of resting on the laurels of his predecessors, Xi was committed to carrying on reform, though he knew how hard it would be.
"The easy part of the job has been done to the satisfaction of all. What is left are tough bones that are hard to chew," he said.
Over the past decade, more than 2,000 reform measures have been rolled out, enabling the country to eliminate extreme poverty, promote integrated urban-rural development, fight corruption, support businesses, boost innovation, and push forward a "green revolution."
Owing to these reform measures, the Chinese economy has not only sustained robust growth but also more than doubled since 2012, cementing the country's global status as a major growth contributor.
Yet extra effort is required as China now faces people's ever-growing needs for a better life, and is confronted with major challenges such as downward economic pressure following the COVID-19 pandemic and risks associated with the real estate sector, local government debts, and some small and medium-sized financial institutions.
Seeking a better future for the country and its people, Xi highlighted reform and opening-up as "an important means" to realize Chinese modernization and extend the country's development miracle.
He reiterated the significance of reform at a group study session of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee in January. Weeks later, at the annual sessions of the nation's top legislature and political advisory body, he stressed the need to deepen reform in various sectors.
"Reform is the driving force for development," Xi said in May when he inspected east China's Shandong Province. During that trip, he also convened a symposium to seek opinions from business leaders and scholars on how to further deepen reform.
"It's quite clear that reform holds a significant weight in Xi's mind, and I think he has a good understanding of all reform-related issues," said Huang Hanquan, head of the Chinese Academy of Macroeconomic Research who attended the symposium as a guest speaker.
Earlier, Xi had told members of the U.S. business, strategic and academic communities who visited Beijing this spring that China was planning and implementing "a series of major steps to comprehensively deepen reform." China will steadily foster a market-oriented, law-based and internationalized business environment, Xi said, adding that this will create broader development space for U.S. and other foreign businesses.
Xi's commitment to reform has been consistent all along.
In 1969, when he was not even 16, Xi was sent to Liangjiahe village in northwest China's Shaanxi Province to do farm labor. There, he experienced hunger. The young man's aspiration at that time was to ensure that all fellow villagers could have enough to eat.
Xi's strong advocacy for reform also stems from the people's aspirations for a better life. The reform measures he introduced as the Party chief of Liangjiahe, which included the use of biogas and the opening of a blacksmith shop and a grocery store, all aimed at improving the villagers' lives.
Xi's commitment to reform was influenced by his father, Xi Zhongxun, an old revolutionary as well as a champion of reform and opening-up. In 1978, the senior Xi was appointed as a major official of south China's Guangdong Province. He helped build up the country's first special economic zones including Shenzhen, Zhuhai and Shantou.
Also in 1978, Xi Zhongxun entrusted the junior Xi, who was then studying at the prestigious Tsinghua University, to conduct a field study on the household contract responsibility system initiated in east China's Anhui Province. The younger Xi took a lot of notes that filled an entire notebook, and he has kept that notebook to this day.
Xi's reputation as a reformer was reinforced as his political career advanced.
In the early 1980s, he initiated reform experiments in the impoverished county of Zhengding, Hebei Province, commencing with the rural land contract system trial -- the first of its kind throughout the northern province.
An article published in the China Youth magazine in 1985 described the county's transformation in detail. It cited a county Party secretary from a neighboring province who paid a visit to Zhengding as saying: "Here, you don't hear people chanting 'reform,' but reform is happening everywhere."
"Looking back at those years, one of the things we achieved was liberating our thinking," said Xi while reflecting on the reforms he led in Zhengding.
After Zhengding, Xi was assigned to work in Xiamen, a special economic zone in Fujian Province, where he spearheaded the establishment of China's first joint-venture bank -- Xiamen International Bank. After ascending to the position of governor of Fujian, Xi led reforms in collective forest tenure, which were later introduced to other parts of the country. This initiative has been reputed as another revolutionary step in China's rural reforms after the household contract responsibility system.
During his tenure as the Party chief of east China's Zhejiang Province, Xi proposed an initiative to promote development through industrial upgrading. He actively supported private businesses, and encouraged businesspeople to "come directly" to his office to seek help. He also brought reforms in Zhejiang far beyond the economic and political spheres, to cover the cultural, social and ecological aspects.
Xi's name as a reformer appealed to some prominent international figures. In September 2006, Henry Paulson, then U.S. treasury secretary, visited China and chose Hangzhou, capital city of Zhejiang, as his first stop. He regarded Xi as the "perfect choice" for his initial meeting in China, describing the latter as "the kind of guy who knows how to get things over the goal line."
Paulson later recounted that during another meeting with Xi in 2014, the Chinese leader stated, "My concern is mainly reform and related issues."
In 2007, as Shanghai's Party chief, Xi foresaw the need for reforms to transition the city's economy to innovation-driven development, enhance its competitiveness as an international financial center, and reinforce its role as a leader in the country's reform and opening-up.
After assuming the Party's top post in 2012, Xi's first domestic inspection took him to Shenzhen, following in his father's footsteps. There, he laid a flower basket at the bronze statue of Deng Xiaoping in Lianhuashan Park, declaring a firm commitment to reform: "Reform will not stop, and opening-up will not cease!"
The Third Plenary Session of the 18th CPC Central Committee, convened in 2013 under Xi's leadership, is heralded as a milestone, much like the Third Plenary Session of the 11th CPC Central Committee in 1978 that ushered in the era of reform. The 2013 event marked the dawn of a new era of reform.
During this session, Xi listed a series of challenges for China's further development, including corruption, unsustainable development and environmental issues. He stressed that "the key to addressing these problems lies in deepening reform."
The session approved a decision on "some major issues concerning comprehensively deepening the reform." A Spanish newspaper commented that Xi had initiated the most profound economic, social and administrative reforms in China in over 30 years.
More than a month later, China announced the decision to establish the Central Leading Group for Comprehensively Deepening Reform, which Xi personally headed. This marked the first time in the Party's history that a leadership body exclusively dedicated to reform was established at the central level. Later, this group evolved into the Central Commission for Comprehensively Deepening Reform, still with Xi as its director.
"On difficult and important reforms, Xi made the final decisions," said a person close to the decision-making process. The official also disclosed that Xi meticulously reviewed each draft of major reform plans, making edits word by word.
VENTURING INTO THE MOUNTAIN DESPITE KNOWING THERE ARE TIGERS
The reforms led by Xi have been based on thoughtful considerations derived from his many years of practice, with a whole set of top-level designs.
He has invoked the ancient Chinese idiom of "discarding the outdated in favor of the new" to call for action, believing that reform and innovation are inherent cultural genes of the Chinese nation.
Xi has been clear-headed regarding the direction of reform. He has cautioned against copying the political systems of other countries, once saying that reform denying socialist orientation would only lead to a "dead end."
"What cannot be changed must be resolutely kept unchanged," he stated, stressing the necessity to uphold the Party's overall leadership in advancing reforms.
For what needs to be changed, Xi has demanded firm actions, urging the creation of conditions for reform even when they do not yet exist. The must-do tasks included eliminating all drawbacks that restrict the vitality of business entities and hinder the full play of the market.
With unprecedented scope, scale and intensity, Xi's reforms have covered the fields of economy, politics, culture, society, ecology, Party building, national defense and the military, among others.
He has developed a methodology for reform in the new era, which stresses properly handling the relationships between emancipating the mind and seeking truth from facts, between advancing as a whole and making breakthroughs in key areas, between top-level design and "crossing the river by feeling the stones," between being bold and maintaining a steady pace, as well as balancing reform, development and stability.
He has stressed pursuing reform in a systematic, holistic and coordinated way and respecting the pioneering spirit of the people. Officials have also been told to "establish the new before abolishing the old" and ensure proper timing and intensity of reform to good effect.
"He corrected the mentality of measuring the success of development simply by GDP growth and enabled the reform to truly touch the vested interests of some people," said an official from Shaanxi.
He recalled that Xi demanded multiple inquiries to stop illegal villa construction by developers in collusion with local officials in the nature reserves of the Qinling Mountains. This also reflected the local resistance encountered by the reform in the ecological field back then.
Xi has been pushing through reform in adversity and had to break the blockades of vested interests. "We need the courage to 'venture into the mountain despite knowing full well there are tigers' and continuously move the reform forward," he said.
Less than 20 days after assuming the top office, Xi oversaw the formulation of the "eight-point decision" on improving Party and government officials' work conduct, to address chronic issues in the bureaucracy such as official privileges, extravagant banquets and other forms of waste of taxpayers' money. This move was later hailed as a "game changer" for China's governance.
On that basis, Xi initiated an unprecedented anti-corruption "storm." The fight against corruption is beneficial for purifying the "political ecosystem" as well as the "economic ecosystem," and is conducive to straightening out the market order and restoring the market to what it should be, he said.
The "zero-tolerance" anti-corruption campaign continues to roar. Over the past year, it has made waves across sectors, including finance, grain supply, healthcare, semiconductor development and manufacturing, and sports.
Hundreds of high-ranking government officials, bank executives and hospital directors, even figures like the president of the Chinese Football Association and former head coach of the national men's football team, were investigated or indicted.
Xi advocated the necessity of reforming the Party, calling for "the most thorough self-revolution."
Under his leadership, a full and rigorous Party self-governance system was built, and a sound system of Party regulations has taken shape. He improved the inspection system and established the national supervision system, to "confine power to an institutional cage."
He also initiated an unprecedented reform of the Party and state institutions.
This reform has been the most eye-catching part of the country's overall reform process, commented Li Junru, former vice president of the Party School of the CPC Central Committee. "Xi uses reform to address unique challenges facing the Party and to build a stronger and more powerful Marxist political party," Li added.
Such reform further dismantled vested interests. Xi has called for the resolve to "offend a few thousand instead of failing the 1.4 billion Chinese people."
He propelled the Party's self-revolution to guide social changes. The Party has taken the initiative to eliminate institutional deficiencies in social development to unlock productive forces, as explained by Liu Bingxiang, a professor at the Party School of the CPC Central Committee.
In this regard, Xi has advocated fully advancing law-based governance, striving to solve the long-standing problems of power outweighing the law and personal relationships trumping legal principles.
He once lashed out at the phenomenon where "money can buy exemption from punishment and even buy life." On another occasion, he said: "The socialist market economy is an economy based on credit and the rule of law."
He has instructed the formulation and revision of a series of laws, including the Anti-Monopoly Law, which provides the legal basis for the fair competition review system.
The legal system for intellectual property rights was also improved. In a typical case, U.S. basketball legend Michael Jordan won a lawsuit in 2020 in Shanghai, with a Chinese company ordered to cease using "Qiao Dan," the Chinese translation of "Jordan," in its name and product trademarks.
Xi's reforms have not only led to economic transformation. He has asserted that the essence of modernization lies in the modernization of the people. Fostering "cultural confidence and national pride" among the Chinese people has become a key objective of the reform.
In 2012, Xi incorporated "cultural confidence" into a keynote report to the 18th CPC National Congress. He later integrated this concept into the "Four Confidences" of socialism with Chinese characteristics, describing cultural confidence as a "more fundamental, deeper and more enduring force."
Xi's reforms also signify a reworking of Marxism to adapt to the new era, integrating its basic tenets with China's specific realities and fine traditional culture. As a result, China's reforms have assumed fresh philosophical significance.
In his 2017 New Year Message, Xi stated that "the main framework of reform, resembling the 'four beams and eight pillars' of a house, has been essentially established in various fields." For those acquainted with traditional Chinese architecture, this signifies that the house has taken shape and can be further perfected.
Xi has directed reforms toward an overarching goal: upholding and improving the system of socialism with Chinese characteristics and modernizing China's system and capacity for governance.
This, undoubtedly, takes a long and challenging process to fulfill.
ONLY REFORMERS CAN ADVANCE, ONLY INNOVATORS CAN THRIVE
In the year when Xi assumed the top office, China's annual economic growth rate dropped below 8 percent for the first time since 1999.
The debt crisis in Europe severely hurt China's foreign trade, and real estate regulation dragged down domestic demand. A foreign bank analyst claimed that "China's economy is facing its most critical moment in nearly 30 years."
Undeterred, Xi identified where reform should head. He was convinced that development still holds the key to solving all problems, and made boosting development a top priority in his reform agenda.
Xi pointed out that China's economy had entered a new development stage and proposed a new development philosophy featuring innovative, coordinated, green, open and shared growth. He initiated the supply-side structural reform, pushed the economy toward high-quality development and moved to construct a new development pattern.
Addressing officials on the significance of the reform to optimize supply structure, Xi cited the example of Chinese tourists buying smart toilet seats and rice cookers abroad, as they couldn't find such innovative or high-quality products on the home market. Meanwhile, some domestic producers were struggling to find customers.
After years of supply-side structural reform under Xi's watch, a new generation of China-made products is enjoying rising popularity at home and abroad. These include energy-saving home appliances, smart electronics, sports gear made from new materials, and large passenger planes.
Overcapacity in certain sectors was effectively tackled. For instance, by the end of 2022, the steel industry had eliminated outdated and excess capacity totaling around 300 million tonnes, exceeding twice the size of the entire crude steel production of India that year.
To push forward the supply-side structural reform, Xi led by example with great foresight. A decade ago, most cars on China's roads were gasoline vehicles. In 2014, during an inspection tour of SAIC Motor, a major Chinese carmaker, Xi emphasized the significance of developing products that cater to diverse needs and highlighted the importance of new energy vehicles in strengthening China's position in the automotive sector.
In the following decade, Xi became a big fan of electric cars, visiting automotive companies, touring laboratories, and showing great interest in trying new home-developed models. He encouraged carmakers to focus on product quality and cultivate market competitiveness.
The new energy industry is, in fact, part of Xi's vision of "new quality productive forces." This new phrase first mentioned by Xi during last year's local inspections has quickly become a buzzword for the Chinese economy, but Xi had started relevant practice since a much earlier date.
Back in the 1970s in the Liangjiahe village of Shaanxi, Xi became the first person across the province to introduce the use of biogas-generating facilities, which could be categorized as "new quality productive forces" at that time, to give fellow villagers a clean replacement of firewood and kerosene used for cooking and lighting.
A firm believer in Marxism, Xi regards the notion of productive forces as "the ultimate cause of all social and political changes."
Developing new quality productive forces, which feature innovation and high quality, is a call to action by China's policymakers to ride the new wave of tech revolution unfolding in such areas as artificial intelligence, synthetic biology, nanotechnology, and quantum information through reform. It also aligns with the innovation-driven development strategy proposed by Xi.
He likened China's lack of strong innovation capability to the Achilles' heel of an economic giant. "Only reformers can advance, only innovators can thrive, and only those who reform and innovate will prevail," he said.
Under his guidance, reform in the science and technology realm was advanced with unprecedented intensity. Spurred by a slew of pro-innovation measures, a new system for mobilizing resources nationwide was leveraged to facilitate key technological breakthroughs, the country's first group of national laboratories set up, and enterprises' principal role in innovation reinforced.
The effects are evident, with China's ranking in the Global Innovation Index, published by the World Intellectual Property Organization, jumping from 34th in 2012 to 12th last year.
Data issued in 2023 showed that China in 2022 overtook the United States for the first time as the No. 1 ranked country for contributions to research articles published in the Nature Index group of high-quality natural science journals.
Despite years of U.S. suppression and chip sanctions, Chinese telecom giant Huawei managed to launch its new high-end smartphones in 2023. Many saw it as proof that the attempted containment of China's tech sector by some Western countries would hardly work.
Yet, there is still much work to be done. Xi has cautioned: "Basic research is the source of sci-tech innovation. Although China has made significant progress in basic research, the distance between us and the international advanced level remains evident."
He has called for further institutional reforms to strengthen basic research, as well as support for original innovation and faster development of strategic, cutting-edge and disruptive technologies.
UNLEASHING THE POWER OF THE MARKET
When Xi assumed Party leadership, two decades had passed since the concept of building a socialist market economy was established.
However, doing business remained a challenging endeavor. In 2014, a lawmaker attending local "two sessions" revealed that a single investment project, from acquiring land to completing all administrative approval procedures, required more than 30 government approvals and over a hundred stamps. The entire process took a minimum of 272 working days.
Xi strongly opposes cumbersome government approvals. While working in the city of Fuzhou, Fujian, he pioneered a mechanism that enabled all procedures for investment project approval to be completed in a single building.
As the country's top leader, he advocated that "the market plays the decisive role in resource allocation and the government plays its role better."
Over the years, the State Council, or the Chinese cabinet, has canceled or delegated to lower-level authorities the power of administrative approval for over 1,000 items, and slashed the number of investment items subject to central government approval by over 90 percent.
"Let the vitality that creates wealth burst forth, and let the power of the market be fully unleashed," said Xi.
The results of the reforms are remarkable, as China was ranked by the World Bank as one of the top 10 economies with the most notable improvement in business environment for two years in a row.
In 2019, construction started for Tesla's Shanghai Gigafactory in January, and by December the automaker already started delivering the first batch of China-made Model 3 electric cars built at the factory. Such fast development won praise from Tesla CEO Elon Musk. In May this year, the U.S. company's first overseas Megapack factory broke ground in Shanghai, once again standing as a strong testament to the "China speed."
Well-acquainted with the challenging situation faced by private enterprises, Xi has instructed the establishment of a private economy development bureau under the country's top economic planner to provide assistance to private enterprises facing difficulties.
Xi also emphasized the need to promote financial reforms to facilitate financing for private enterprises. He stressed the importance of encouraging private capital to enter industries and sectors where entry is not explicitly prohibited by laws and regulations.
Under Xi's instruction, the system of a negative list for market access was comprehensively implemented, allowing entry into areas not explicitly prohibited by the list. By the end of 2023, the number of registered business entities nationwide reached 184 million, more than three times the figure in 2012.
From 2012 to 2023, the number of private enterprises in China more than quadrupled, and the proportion of private enterprises in the total number of enterprises increased from less than 80 percent to over 92 percent.
During that period, privately-owned banks received approval for establishment, a high-speed rail controlled by private capital began operation, private investment was permitted to enter the oil and gas exploration and production sector, and a private rocket company achieved success in launching a rocket from the sea.
Xi also initiated market-oriented reforms for state-owned enterprises (SOEs). In 2017, China Unicom, as the first centrally-administered SOE in the telecommunications industry to open up to private capital, introduced 14 strategic investors, including Internet titans Tencent, Baidu, JD.com and Alibaba, in the "mixed-ownership reform."
A three-year action plan for SOE reform further converted SOEs into limited liability companies or companies limited by shares. Some 38,000 SOEs established boards of directors.
International media have noticed that China's reform has been advancing in step with changes in the situation. A trade war waged by the United States, the global pandemic, and increased geopolitical tensions have tested the resilience of China's economy. The country is also transforming its economic development model.
Xi has led China to accelerate building the new development pattern, which takes the domestic market as the mainstay while allowing domestic and international markets to reinforce each other.
A key support for this strategy is the establishment of a unified national market. To achieve this, a series of reforms are being implemented to eliminate local protectionism and dismantle regional barriers.
Li Junru, the veteran Party theorist, said Xi drew new "dots," "circles" and "belts" on China's map as he advanced inter-regional coordination and boosted the development of the Xiong'an New Area, the Yangtze River Delta and the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, among others.
Xi has doubled down on opening-up efforts to push forward reform and made "institutional opening-up" a priority. In one such move, China has lifted foreign ownership limits for securities companies, management companies of securities investment funds, futures companies and life insurance companies.
China is pushing for accession to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, as the government strives to meet the high standards set by the agreement and commits to practices that go beyond existing market access policies.
In 2013, Xi set up the country's first pilot free trade zone in Shanghai. Currently, the number of such zones has reached 22, with the entire tropical island province of Hainan becoming a free trade port.
Another significant reform step taken by Xi is the establishment of the China International Import Expo, the world's first national-level exhibition with a focus on expanding imports.
He has also initiated a fair to facilitate trade in services and an expo featuring the display of global consumer products, showcasing his vision for trade liberalization and economic globalization.
China is now the main trading partner of more than 140 countries and regions, and has maintained its position as the world's second-largest foreign direct investment destination.
Meanwhile, Xi is cautious about disorderly capital expansion, market manipulation and the pursuit of exorbitant profits in certain areas, guarding against risks similar to the U.S. subprime crisis.
He proposed setting "traffic lights" for capital flows, ensuring that "financial magnates" do not act unscrupulously while still allowing capital to function properly as a production factor.
This indicates that China's reform is no longer solely focused on growth, but considers a more balanced approach.
Coordinating development and security stands out in Xi's campaign to deepen reform in all aspects. China remains the world's only major economy free from any financial crisis over the past four decades.
MAKING PEOPLE'S PRIORITIES HIS OWN
Xi emphasizes that the ultimate goal of China's reform is to improve the people's well-being. He has pledged to make people's priorities his own and act on their wishes, a stark difference from the "capital first" approach often seen in a capitalist economy.
In 2017, Xi pointed out that after nearly 40 years of reform and opening-up, the principal contradiction facing Chinese society had undergone significant changes. "What we now face is the contradiction between unbalanced and inadequate development and the people's ever-growing needs for a better life," he explained.
In response to this change, he advocates for coordinated and shared development, and commits himself to achieving Deng Xiaoping's vision of "common prosperity."
When Xi took over the helm in 2012, significant disparities existed between China's eastern and western regions, and wealth inequality was severe.
He has transformed the poverty relief strategy, implementing a new approach called "targeted poverty elimination."
The individuals and villages confirmed as poor were registered and a file was created in the national poverty alleviation information system. Meanwhile, the impoverished were relocated from inhospitable areas. Governments promoted industries in line with local conditions and organized training classes for the underprivileged to help raise their income. Over 3 million officials were dispatched to be stationed in designated villages to ensure poverty relief measures were fully and well enforced.
Under Xi's leadership, China eradicated absolute poverty in its rural areas, a problem that had persisted for several thousand years.
China's reforms started in the rural areas in the late 1970s, and Xi's reform initiatives regarding agriculture, rural areas and farmers encompass a broader range of changes.
He has established a sound mechanism for stable grain production to ensure that "China's food supply remains firmly in its own hands," improved the village business environment, and promoted rural revitalization across the board.
In the early 2000s, Xi proposed in an academic paper bold reforms to the household registration system to eliminate various social and economic disparities, as well as the division of the urban and rural labor markets caused by the system. At that time, there was much controversy about whether or not the household registration restrictions should be abolished.
In 2016 the central government rolled out a plan to grant urban residency to some 100 million people from rural areas and other permanent residents without local household registration, and this goal was fulfilled ahead of schedule.
During an inspection trip to Shanghai in 2023, Xi visited the apartments where migrant workers lived. He was happy to learn that migrants were settling down in the metropolis.
"Great! Stay, settle down, and strive for a better life," he said.
Under Xi's leadership, China scrapped the reeducation-through-labor system, which had been in operation for over half a century, raised the threshold for personal income tax exemption from 3,500 yuan to 5,000 yuan per month, and laid down a people-centered principle for the real estate sector's development -- "Housing is for living in, not for market speculation."
In response to demographic changes, China has adjusted its population and family planning policies. Reforms have been carried out to ensure better and more equitable education. Additionally, Xi has spearheaded the establishment of the world's largest social security system and initiated reforms in basic elderly care services. Today, the numbers of people covered by basic old-age insurance and basic medical insurance in China have exceeded 1 billion and 1.3 billion, respectively.
With the belief that "people's health is the primary indicator of modernization," Xi called for studying and promoting the practice in the city of Sanming in Fujian to push forward the healthcare reform.
Xi advocated for the comprehensive elimination of markups on drugs and medical consumables that had been in place for over 60 years, reducing patients' costs. Government departments acted on his call and formed a work team to negotiate drug and consumable prices with pharmaceutical companies.
In a widely circulated online video of such price negotiations in 2021, representatives from the National Healthcare Security Administration insisted that "no minority group of patients should be abandoned," and managed to cut the price of a life-saving drug for a rare disease from about 700,000 yuan per shot to 33,000 yuan per shot through eight rounds of intense negotiations.
This drug was then included in China's medical insurance catalog, igniting hope for over 30,000 patients nationwide. Similar price cuts for hundreds of drugs have in several years cumulatively saved the public some 500 billion yuan in medical expenses.
Xi has advanced reforms in the rural healthcare system to ensure that people in the vast countryside have access to affordable medical treatment. The campaigns have significantly reduced cases of illness-induced poverty. Almost all low-income people and individuals just lifted out of poverty in the rural areas now have medical insurance.
Xi's reform in the cultural sector emphasizes enriching the "spiritual world" of the people as an essential requirement for Chinese modernization. This involves refining cultural industry planning and policies, and nurturing new cultural business forms and cultural consumption patterns.
As a result, the film industry has seen fast development in recent years. The number of cinema screens in China increased from about 13,000 in 2012 to over 86,000 at the end of 2023, the highest in the world. The New York Times reported earlier this year that China's film industry is producing more high-quality movies that resonate with domestic audiences.
Xi also revamped the educational system, which directly relates to the expansion of the talent pool and the sci-tech advancement.
He moved to promote the balanced development of compulsory education, reduce the heavy workload of students to ensure their well-rounded development, and build a modern vocational education system and a modern university system.
The proportion of national fiscal expenditure allocated to education has remained above 4 percent of GDP for consecutive years, making it the largest share of China's general public budget spending.
Another ground-breaking reform led by Xi occurred in the ecological domain.
When Xi became the Party's general secretary in 2012, environmental pollution was one of the most common complaints among the public. At the start of that year, cadmium pollution affected a river in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, endangering the drinking water safety of over a million people. Several high-profile "not-in-my-backyard" incidents triggered by industrial pollution concerns occurred across the country during the year.
Xi, known for bold and resolute environmental initiatives in Xiamen to clean up the Yundang Lake and in Hangzhou to protect the West Lake, established the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, set ecological and environmental protection as an inviolable "red line," introduced inspections on ecological and environmental protection by central authorities, and asked local officials to be responsible for the protection of rivers, lakes and forests as their "management chiefs."
Under Xi's leadership, China became the country with the fastest improvement in air quality, the largest increase in forest resources, and the largest area of afforestation globally. The country has also held a steady position as the world leader in installed capacities for hydro, wind, solar and biomass power generation.
China has also developed the world's largest carbon market and vowed to achieve carbon neutrality after carbon peaking in a much shorter time span compared with developed countries. "Green and low-carbon development is the order of the day, and those who follow it will prosper," Xi said.
Xi believes that correcting unsustainable growth methods is essential for the sustainable development of the Chinese nation and for protecting Mother Earth -- "our one and only home."
FORGING AHEAD WITH COURAGE
"No other country around the world can comprehensively advance reform in the same way as present-day China does, with a commitment to its promises and a sense of urgency," said a report by the Singaporean newspaper Lianhe Zaobao.
According to the 2023 Edelman Trust Barometer, a survey conducted by consulting firm Edelman, China's overall trust level was 83, ranking first among all surveyed countries.
China was the only country among those surveyed that expressed optimism about economic prospects, according to the survey.
Observers believe that with Xi as the helmsman of reform in the new era, the socialist market economy heralded by Deng Xiaoping will undoubtedly continue and thrive. Xi has ignited the engine propelling China on an irreversible journey toward modernization.
Deng's reforms and his proclamation that "development is the absolute principle" liberated and developed China's social productive forces, catapulting the country into the position of a global economic powerhouse.
Xi has held that high-quality development is the unyielding principle of the new era, and initiated a comprehensive and systematic transformation in China, which has greatly contributed to the re-balancing of the world economy.
Last year, China's economy grew by 5.2 percent, contributing one-third of global growth. The country remains a strong global growth engine.
In meetings with foreign government and business leaders this year, Xi's message has been consistent: China is committed to furthering reform, which will bring opportunities to the world.
Visiting France in May, Xi told businesses there that China's reform would provide a broader market space for all countries. In Serbia, he visited the Smederevo steel plant, which he helped resuscitate with Chinese investment about eight years ago, saving jobs for over 5,000 local workers.
The plant is a flagship project of Xi's signature Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). Inspired by the ancient Silk Road, Xi proposed the initiative in 2013 to reform and enhance global development cooperation. He designed the BRI as a modern network linking countries through enhanced trade, infrastructure development, and people-to-people exchanges.
In a decade, the BRI has garnered participation by three-quarters of the world's countries, helping create 420,000 jobs and lift tens of millions of people out of poverty in those countries.
Since last year, the anticipation for the third plenum of the 20th CPC Central Committee has kept building up. People in China and the world at large are closely watching what major reform measures are to be unveiled, and gauging the potential impact of such measures.
Before the plenum, Xi had promised a series of "strategic, innovative and leading reforms," in order to "achieve new breakthroughs in important areas and key sectors."
There are reasons to be optimistic. Such optimism is based not only on China's enormous economic and market size but also on the unified leadership of the Party with Xi at the core. The CPC has the guts for self-reform and is capable of turning blueprints into concrete actions.
As some people overseas have doubts or even fears about China's reform, development and their implications, Xi has often said that China has no intention of changing or challenging the existing world order. It is just taking a more active part in global governance, and pushing for a more just and equitable world order.
"China's modernization has offered a new choice and has far-reaching implications for developing countries," said Jose Ricardo dos Santos Luz Junior, the CEO of a Sao Paulo-based company that connects Chinese and Brazilian entrepreneurs.
In the early days of Deng's reform era, the late Chinese leader stated that the goal of China's reform and opening-up was to "catch up with the times."
Today, reflecting on nearly half a century of progress, Xi pointed out that China's reform and opening-up has not only advanced its own development but also made significant contributions to global peace and progress.
Carrying on Deng's legacy and with a strong sense of responsibility, Xi is leading China on a path of modernization that not only creates economic miracles and development opportunities, but also explores a new form of human civilization.
"Our modernization is both the most challenging and the greatest," said Xi. "This is an unprecedented path, but we will continue to explore it and forge ahead with courage." Enditem
(by Xinhua writers Zhou Xiaozheng, Zhang Zhengfu, Wu Jihai, Cheng Yunjie, Xu Lingui, Wang Xiuqiong, Zhang Zhongkai, Shi Hao, Wang Yaguang, Zhang Bowen and Fu Min)
(Editor's note: This story is an updated version of a same-titled piece released by Xinhua English newswire on March 12, 2024.)
特稿｜改革家习近平
新华社北京7月15日电 题：改革家习近平
新华社记者
中共二十届三中全会15日在北京开始举行，习近平总书记带领全党全国踏上进一步全面深化改革新征程。
一段时期以来，他提出新一轮改革要“进一步解放思想、解放和发展社会生产力、解放和增强社会活力”，“为中国式现代化提供强大动力和制度保障”，受到广泛关注。
这也有力回应了外界对中国改革与经济发展前景的臆断猜测。
习近平执政的新时代也是改革的新时期。中国综合实力持续增长，国际影响力不断提升。面对各种机遇挑战，现在到了新一轮改革提速的关键期。
“改革不停顿，开放不止步”
习近平被认为是邓小平之后的又一位卓越的改革家。他们肩负相同的使命：使中国实现现代化。但两人面对的形势迥然不同。
邓小平发起改革开放的1978年，中国人均GDP不到200美元。改革几乎从零开始。而2012年习近平就任中共中央总书记时的中国，已是世界第二大经济体，人均GDP突破6000美元。同时许多发展红利正在消退，包括曾经低廉的劳动力成本。
“容易的、皆大欢喜的改革已经完成了，好吃的肉都吃掉了，剩下的都是难啃的硬骨头。”习近平说。他拒绝躺在前人功劳簿上休息，而是继续冲刺。10多年来，中国出台2000多个改革方案，经济总量翻了一番多，并保持了世界经济增长第一引擎位置。
但面对老百姓对于更美好生活的期盼，为保持新冠疫情后经济恢复势头，以及防范各种风险等，还需付出重大努力。
在习近平看来，未来要实现现代化，续写中国奇迹，仍然要用好改革开放这个重要法宝。
在今年初的中央政治局集体学习上，习近平重申改革。两会上，他要求加快推动各方面改革。在多次离京考察途中，他反复强调“改革是发展的动力”。
5月下旬，他在济南主持召开企业和专家座谈会，听取对进一步全面深化改革的意见和建议。与会的中国宏观经济研究院院长黄汉权告诉新华社记者：“座谈会气氛很活跃。可以看出改革在总书记心中分量很重，而且他对改革方方面面情况非常了解。”
习近平今年春季在会见美国工商界和战略学术界代表时说：“我们正在谋划和实施一系列全面深化改革重大举措，持续建设市场化、法治化、国际化一流营商环境，为包括美国企业在内的各国企业提供更广阔发展空间。”
习近平的改革情结一以贯之。上世纪60年代末，他不满16岁下乡插队，在陕北黄土高原贫瘠的梁家河村劳动7年，经常挨饿，那时他的愿望就是让乡亲们吃饱饭。他对后来邓小平发动改革的初衷——中国“不能再穷下去了”深为认同。
同邓小平一样，习近平的改革动力也来自人民的期待。他在梁家河时就带领乡亲实施了一些大胆改革举措，包括办铁匠铺、建商铺和改善农田生态条件。
习近平有改革家传。在改革伊始的1978年，习近平的父亲习仲勋受中央委派南下主政广东，创办深圳等经济特区。那年，正在清华大学学习的习近平受父亲委托到安徽滁州实地调研家庭联产承包责任制。他记了一大本笔记，收藏了40多年。
习近平在每一个地方任职都是改革先锋。在正定，他力主包产到户，使贫困的正定成为河北省第一批包产到户试点县。刊载于1985年第1期《中国青年》的一篇报道描写了习近平领导下的正定新面貌：“山西省一位县委书记到正定参观，临行前感慨地说：‘这里，听不见人人喊改革，但处处在改革。’”
“现在回过头来想一想，如果说我们做到了什么，其中之一就是做到了解放思想这一条。”习近平回忆正定改革时这样说。
习近平离开正定后去了经济特区厦门。在那里他推动成立中国第一家中外合资银行——厦门国际银行。担任福建省省长时，习近平率先在全省推行集体林权制度改革，这项改革后来在全国推开，被称作家庭联产承包责任制后中国农村的又一场革命。
调任浙江后，他开创性提出“腾笼换鸟”的改革构想，并成为最早参加浙商活动的省委书记，他让民营企业家有重要事情可以直接去办公室找他。他将浙江的改革从经济、政治领域推进到文化、社会、生态各方面。
他的改革者风貌令国际人士印象深刻。2006年9月时任美国财长亨利·保尔森首次访华，把杭州定为第一站，认为时任浙江省委书记的习近平是他到中国会见第一人的“完美人选”。“他是那种知道怎样攻破球门的人。”保尔森如此评价习近平。他后来回忆，2014年的一次会见中，习近平曾对他说“改革相关事宜是我关注的重中之重”。
上海任上，习近平要求该市通过改革实现“创新驱动”发展，推动国际金融中心建设，当好改革开放的排头兵。
2012年，习近平任总书记后离京考察的第一站，即循着父亲足迹来到深圳，向莲花山公园的邓小平铜像敬献花篮，宣示自己的坚定决心：“改革不停顿，开放不止步！”
1978年，邓小平通过中共十一届三中全会开启了改革开放和社会主义现代化建设新时期，而2013年习近平主导的十八届三中全会同样具有里程碑意义，开启了全面深化改革、系统整体设计推进改革的新时代。
在这次全会上，习近平列举了一长串中国发展面临的挑战，包括腐败现象、发展不可持续、生态环境恶化等。他说：“解决这些问题，关键在于深化改革。”
全会通过《中共中央关于全面深化改革若干重大问题的决定》。西班牙《世界报》说：“习近平开启了中国30年来最深刻的经济、社会和行政改革的序幕。”
1个多月后，中央政治局召开会议，决定成立由习近平任组长的中央全面深化改革领导小组，这是中共历史上首次在党中央层面设置专司改革工作的领导机构。后来这个小组成为中央全面深化改革委员会，由习近平任主任。
“重大改革事项，都由习近平总书记一锤定音。”一位熟悉情况的负责改革的部门领导告诉记者，重大改革方案每一稿他都认真审阅，逐字逐句亲笔修改。
“明知山有虎，偏向虎山行”
习近平的全面深化改革，基于他从长期实践中得出的深思熟虑，并形成一整套顶层设计。他认为改革创新是中华民族的文化基因，用中国古训“革故鼎新”来激励人们。
在改革方向上，习近平头脑清醒。他用“邯郸学步”、“画虎不成反类犬”、“水土不服”、“死路一条”来警告否定社会主义方向的改革将带来严重后果。“不能改的坚决不改。”他说。习近平强调，改革要“坚持党的全面领导”。
对于应该改的，习近平要求坚决改，暂不具备条件的也创造条件改——包括改掉一切束缚经营主体活力、阻碍市场和价值规律充分发挥作用的弊端。习近平的全面深化改革范围、规模和力度空前，全方位覆盖经济、政治、文化、社会、生态文明、党的建设、国防和军队等各个领域。
他实现了新时代改革理论的创新，并提出科学的改革方法论，包括：处理好解放思想和实事求是的关系、整体推进和重点突破的关系、顶层设计和摸着石头过河的关系、胆子要大和步子要稳的关系、改革发展稳定的关系。他要求用“五位一体”总体布局和“四个全面”战略布局来统率改革。
他格外注重改革的“系统性、整体性、协同性”，要求在改革中尊重群众首创精神，把握好推动改革的时度效。掌舵关乎14亿人口福祉的改革，他提出“稳中求进”、“先立后破”，确保改革符合中国实际。
“他纠正了‘唯GDP论英雄’。”一位陕西官员说。他回忆习近平先后6次批示，制止官商勾结在秦岭自然保护区建别墅。这件事也反映出生态领域改革当时遇到的地方利益集团阻力。
习近平的改革一直在艰难中突围。他要打破更多的利益藩篱。他说：“这个时候需要‘明知山有虎，偏向虎山行’的勇气，不断把改革推向前进。”
任总书记不到20天，他就主持制定“八项规定”，根治官场公款吃喝、铺张浪费等沉疴痼疾。这一措施坚持至今且不断完善，人民由衷赞叹“八项规定改变中国”。
以此为起点和切入口，习近平掀起史无前例的反腐风暴。他说：“反腐败斗争有利于净化政治生态，也有利于净化经济生态，有利于理顺市场秩序、还市场以本来的面目。”
“零容忍”的反腐斗争10多年从未间断，过去1年多来继续席卷金融、粮食、医疗健康、半导体等行业和体育界，数百名高级官员、银行高管、医院负责人甚至足协主席、国足主教练等落马。
治标更治本。习近平提出对中共这一百年大党进行改革，发起“最彻底的自我革命”。他领导构建全面从严治党体系，形成比较完善的党内法规体系，建立健全巡视制度和国家监察体系，“把权力关进制度的笼子里”。
“习近平总书记发起的党和国家机构改革，是改革中最受瞩目的。他用改革来解决大党独有难题、建设更加坚强有力的马克思主义政党。”中共中央党校原副校长李君如说。
这是“动奶酪”最大的一次改革。习近平说：“得罪千百人，不负十四亿。”
由此，他使改革进入纵深领域，以党的自我革命引领社会革命——“党主动改革不适应生产力发展要求的生产关系以及不适应经济基础的上层建筑，改变一切不适应生产力发展的管理方式、活动方式和思想方式，不断革除社会发展的体制机制弊病，进一步解放生产力、发展生产力。”中央党校教授刘炳香说。
在全面从严治党同时，习近平推动全面依法治国，通过司法改革等打破几千年权大于法的人治痼疾和事事讲人情托关系的社会风气。在一次会上，习近平痛斥“花钱可以免罪、花钱可以买命”的现象。他说，“社会主义市场经济是信用经济、法治经济”。
他领导制定和修订一批法律，包括反垄断法，将公平竞争审查制度上升为法律规定。知识产权的法律体系得到健全。在2020年宣判的一起典型案件中，中国法院判决一家福建企业侵害美国球星迈克尔·乔丹的姓名权，要求其停止在商标上使用。
海外舆论称中国新时代的改革为“习式改革”，而这不是一场简单的“经济转型”。习近平认为，现代化的本质是人的现代化。因此，改革的目标是塑造新时代的中国人，让人们“树立文化的自信、民族的自豪感”。2012年，他要求在党代会报告中写入“文化自信”。随后他将这个概念纳入中国特色社会主义“四个自信”，并称文化自信是“更基本、更深沉、更持久的力量”。
“习式改革”也意味着将马克思主义做了适应新时代和现实国情的再造，也使其与中华优秀传统文化结合在一起。
改革便因此具有了崭新的哲学意义，并显现出高度重视制度建设的特征——改革更多面对的是深层次体制机制问题，因此做了大量建章立制、构建体系的工作。
在作为国家主席发表2017年新年贺词时，习近平说，“各领域具有四梁八柱性质的改革主体框架已经基本确立”。了解中国传统建筑的人知道，“四梁八柱”搭起，屋子就已成形，可以进一步完善了。
习近平将全面深化改革指向一个总目标：完善和发展中国特色社会主义制度，推进国家治理体系和治理能力现代化。这无疑是一个长期而艰巨的进程。
“惟改革者进，惟创新者强”
习近平就任总书记当年，中国经济增速自1999年以来首次降到8%以下。欧洲债务危机重创外贸，房地产调控拖累内需，有外资银行分析师称，“中国经济已经到了近30年最危急的时刻”。
习近平确定了改革的主攻方向——坚持发展仍是解决所有问题的关键，仍然要把发展作为第一要务。
习近平认为中国经济进入新的发展阶段，他提出创新、协调、绿色、开放、共享的新发展理念，发动供给侧结构性改革，推动经济转向高质量发展，构建新发展格局。
为让官员们更好理解改革发展的现实意义，习近平用中国游客到国外买马桶盖和电饭锅的故事来给他们“上课”。当时，不少中国人热衷从海外购买从奢侈品到日常生活用品的各类商品，一些国内企业的产品却卖不出去。
通过习近平倡导的供给侧结构性改革，产能过剩困境得到缓解，其中钢铁行业截至2022年底淘汰落后和化解过剩产能约3亿吨，超过当年印度全国粗钢产量两倍。从节能环保家居产品到新材料运动装备，从智能电子设备到国产大飞机，越来越多产品受到海内外消费者的欢迎。
为推动改革，习近平身体力行，展露出敏锐的超前眼光。10年前，中国公路上跑的绝大多数是燃油车。2014年，习近平考察上海汽车集团，提出“开发适应各种需求的产品”，发展新能源汽车，使中国从汽车大国迈向汽车强国。
此后10年，习近平几乎成了电动汽车的“超级粉丝”，多次考察汽车公司，参观实验室，试坐电动汽车，鼓励生产者注重产品质量，形成市场竞争力。
新能源产业，实际上是习近平提出的新质生产力的一部分。虽然新质生产力是他去年国内考察调研时使用的新语汇，但他早已在推动发展。比如，在上世纪70年代的梁家河，他就率先把沼气引进陕西，使村民用上“新能源”灯，用气而不是靠砍柴来烧饭，既便利了生活，又保护了环境。
习近平多次通读《资本论》，是历史唯物主义和辩证唯物主义的坚定信仰者，他视生产力为“一切社会变迁和政治变革的终极原因”。
以“创新”、“质优”为特征的新质生产力反映了中国决策者面对新一轮科技革命——以人工智能为代表，汇聚生命科学、量子计算、纳米技术、新能源、新材料、太空和深海技术等——推动改革的紧迫感，而这与习近平提出的创新驱动发展战略一脉相承。
习近平说：“创新是引领发展的第一动力。”他将创新能力不强比喻为“我国这个经济大个头的‘阿喀琉斯之踵’”。
“惟改革者进，惟创新者强，惟改革创新者胜。”习近平说。他以前所未有的力度推动科技体制改革，发挥新型举国体制优势，组建首批国家实验室，强化企业科技创新主体地位，改革科技评价制度。“揭榜挂帅”、“赛马制”得到推行。中共二十大报告首次对教育、科技、人才工作专章部署、一体统筹。
改革的效果已然呈现，中国的全球创新指数排名从2012年的第34位跃升至2023年的第12位。去年5月发布的自然指数数据显示，中国作者2022年在高质量自然科学期刊上发表论文份额首次排名第一，超过了美国。
2023年，已遭美国全方位封锁打压多年的华为推出搭载自研芯片的新手机，舆论认为，这说明一些西方国家对中国的科技围堵难以奏效。但这还远远不够。习近平提醒：“基础研究是科技创新的源头。我国基础研究虽然取得显著进步，但同国际先进水平的差距还是明显的。”
他要求深化基础研究体制机制改革，支持原始创新，加快发展战略性、前沿性、颠覆性技术。
“让市场力量充分释放”
习近平上任总书记时，距离1992年中共十四大提出建设社会主义市场经济体制已有20年，但一些企业要办成一件事仍然很难。2014年，一位人大代表在地方两会上“晒”出一张“行政审批长征图”：一个投资项目从获得土地到办完手续，需经过30多项审批，盖上百个章，全程最少需历经272个审批日。
习近平痛恨繁琐而低效的审批。他在福州工作时，便率先倡导简政放权，创造性实行投资项目审批“一栋楼办公”，全部手续不用出楼即可办成。任总书记后，他拍板将“使市场在资源配置中起决定性作用和更好发挥政府作用”写入党中央文件。几年来，国务院取消和下放行政许可事项1000多项，中央政府层面核准投资项目压减90%以上。
“证照分离”等商事制度改革让企业开办时间压缩到平均4个工作日以内。企业去政府办事，“一颗印章管审批”、“最多跑一次”甚至“一次都不跑”的情况越来越多。2024年1月国务院又出台“高效办成一件事”的指导意见。
“让创造财富的活力竞相迸发，让市场力量充分释放。”习近平说。
改革的结果是，中国被世界银行评为营商环境改善幅度最大的十大经济体之一。美国企业特斯拉是受益于改革的一个例子。2019年，特斯拉上海超级工厂实现“当年开工、当年竣工、当年投产、当年上市”，公司首席执行官马斯克说，这创造了令人惊叹的上海速度，也创造了全球汽车制造业的新纪录。今年5月，特斯拉上海储能超级工厂动工，再次见证中国速度。
习近平十分关心并熟悉民营企业的情况。在一次会议上，他痛心地说，民营企业遇到了“三山”、“三门”，即“市场的冰山”、“融资的高山”、“转型的火山”和“玻璃门”、“弹簧门”、“旋转门”，要做的是“搬山破门”。
他指示设立民营经济发展局，为民企纾难解困。他要求推动金融改革，为民企融资提供便利。同时，“凡是法律法规未明确禁入的行业和领域都应该鼓励民间资本进入，凡是我国政府已向外资开放或承诺开放的领域都应该向国内民间资本开放”。
在习近平指示下，“有恒产者有恒心”写入中央文件。在工程建设和招标投标、政府采购等领域，不当市场干预行为被专项整治。市场准入负面清单制度全面实施，清单之外“非禁即入”。截至2023年底，全国登记在册经营主体达1.84亿户，是2012年的3倍多。
首批民营银行获批筹建，首条民营控股高铁开通运营，民营资本被允许进入油气勘探开发领域，民营公司创下火箭海上发射、液氧甲烷火箭重复使用的成功纪录。2012年至2023年，民营企业数量翻了两番多，在企业总量中的占比由约79%提高到逾92%。
习近平还对国企大刀阔斧改革。2017年，中国联通作为首家面向民营资本开放的通信行业央企，在“混改”中引入包括腾讯、百度、京东、阿里等互联网企业在内的14家战略投资者，业内评价这是“全球电信行业发展140年以来，首次出现‘电信运营商+互联网’的资本与业务创新模式”。
随后习近平实施了国企改革三年行动方案。国有企业全面完成公司制改制，3.8万户国企实现董事会应建尽建，任期制、契约化管理覆盖逾8万户企业。
在新的形势下，中国各项改革与时俱进。外媒观察到，2018年美国发动对华贸易战，叠加3年新冠疫情以及地缘政治变化，使得中国经济韧性受到考验。在这一时期，中国经济发展模式也进行着新的调整。
习近平带领中国加快构建以国内大循环为主体、国内国际双循环相互促进的新发展格局，以应对形势变化。这项战略的重要支撑是建设全国统一大市场。为此要进行消除地方保护主义、拆除区域壁垒的一系列改革。
李君如说，习近平推动区域协调发展改革，在神州大地上“画”出新的“带”、“圈”、“点”，升级了中国行政区划版图。他决策、部署、推动被称为“千年大计”的雄安新区建设，推进前海这个“特区中的特区”的发展，鼓励京津冀、长江三角洲、粤港澳大湾区、成渝地区、东北和中部地区凝聚经济和社会发展合力。
他引领的“以开放促改革”的力度也越来越大，特别是倡导“制度型开放”。中国已取消证券公司、证券投资基金管理公司、期货公司、寿险公司外资股比限制。江苏、北京等地推出了鼓励外资参与重点产业集群建设、吸引优质外资参与产业强链补链延链，以及便利外资跨境数据流动等措施。
中国还积极寻求加入《全面与进步跨太平洋伙伴关系协定》。这意味着中国将通过持续深化改革，努力全面达到该协定的规则标准，并在市场准入领域作出超过中方现有缔约实践的高水平开放承诺。
2013年，习近平指示在上海建立了中国第一个自贸试验区，现在数量已经达到22个，海南岛整体成为自贸港。习近平主导的另一项改革是，设立世界上第一个以进口为主题的国家级展会——上海进博会，他还谋划了服贸会、消博会，来展现他对贸易自由化和经济全球化的构想。
目前，中国是140多个国家和地区的主要贸易伙伴，并稳居外商直接投资第二大目的地。
同时习近平致力于防范类似美国次贷危机的情况在中国发生，并警惕一些领域出现的资本无序扩张、肆意操纵、牟取暴利现象，称其损害了人民利益，提出要为资本设置“红绿灯”，“既不让‘资本大鳄’恣意妄为，又要发挥资本作为生产要素的功能”。
舆论认为，这反映了中国的改革不再以增长为唯一目的，而是考虑更多优先平衡项。习近平领导全面深化改革的显著特点是协调发展与安全的关系。中国成功应对了重大风险挑战，是40多年来全球大国中唯一没有发生金融危机的经济体。
“为了人民而改革，改革才有意义”
习近平认定改革出发点和落脚点是为了人民，“为了人民而改革，改革才有意义；依靠人民而改革，改革才有动力。”这完全不同于西方奉行的“资本至上”。
他在2017年指出，中国在改革开放近40年后，社会主要矛盾已经发生重大变化，是人民日益增长的美好生活需要和不平衡不充分的发展之间的矛盾。为此，他推动协调发展，倡导共享理念，致力于实现邓小平提出的“共同富裕”。
习近平就任总书记时，东西部的差距很大，贫富不均严重。他通过实地考察访真贫摸实情，果断改革扶贫策略，实施“精准脱贫”，打出从建档立卡到易地搬迁、从产业对接到教育扶贫等的“组合拳”，派出300多万名干部常驻贫困村定点扶贫，最终消除了延续几千年的农村绝对贫困。
中国改革始于农村，习近平倡导的“三农”改革更为全面——从建立“饭碗牢牢端在自己手中”的粮食稳产机制，到改革农村经营体制和推进乡村全面振兴。
习近平在世纪之初撰写的博士论文《中国农村市场化研究》中提出：“大胆进行户籍制度改革，坚决剔除粘附在户籍关系上的种种社会经济差别，彻底消除由户籍制度造成的城乡劳动力市场的分割。”而在当时，对于要不要取消户籍限制，各方面争议很大。
习近平就任总书记后，中央政府出台“推动1亿非户籍人口在城市落户”的方案，并在不到5年时间里提前实现。2023年，习近平到上海考察时，特意去探访外地打工者所住的公寓。听到山东打工者说要把配偶小孩接过来租房、安徽打工者说要找对象在上海安家，他高兴地说：“好啊！扎根，落户，发展。”
在习近平执政期间，中国终结了延续半个多世纪的劳教制度，将个税起征点从每月3500元提高到5000元，实行“房子是用来住的、不是用来炒的”政策以缓解百姓住房困难，根据人口发展形势相继实施单独两孩、全面两孩和三孩政策，使基本养老保险覆盖超10亿人、基本医疗保险覆盖逾13亿人。
习近平认为“现代化最重要的指标还是人民健康”。他要求总结推广福建三明市的医改经验，破解医疗改革这一世界性难题。他推动全面取消实行60多年的药品和耗材加成，破除“以药补医”，减少患者看病费用。习近平主持的一次深改委会议通过了药品集中采购试点方案，有关部门还据此组建“国家队”出面与医药企业谈判药品和医用耗材价格。
2021年火遍网络的一次“灵魂砍价”中，在国家医保局谈判代表“每一个小群体都不应该被放弃”的坚持下，一种罕见病的“天价救命药”经过8轮激烈谈判，从每针70万元降至3.3万元，进入新版医保目录，让全国3万多名患者看到希望。类似的降价药品达几百种，几年间累计减轻群众看病就医负担约5000亿元。
习近平推动文化体制改革，把丰富人民的“精神世界”作为中国式现代化的内在要求。为此中国不断完善文化产业规划和政策，培育新型文化业态和文化消费模式。仅以电影产业来看，全国银幕数量从2012年的1.3万块增长到去年底的8.6万多块，居世界第一。《纽约时报》今年初的报道说，中国电影产业正在制作更多引起国内观众共鸣的优质影片。
教育体制改革是“习式改革”的重点，这直接关系到“出人才”和“强科技”。他推动义务教育均衡发展、促进素质教育、减轻中小学生课业负担、构建现代职业教育体系、建设现代大学制度等。国家财政性教育经费投入占GDP的比例连年保持在4%以上，教育成为财政一般公共预算的第一大支出。
另一项突破性改革是在生态领域。10多年前，环境污染是百姓抱怨最多的问题之一。2012年初广西河池市境内的龙江河发生镉污染，影响到上百万人的饮水安全。这年，四川什邡、江苏启东、浙江镇海等地发生民众因担心环境被破坏而反对工业项目上马的群体事件。
在厦门以治理筼筜湖、在杭州以保护西湖闻名的习近平，组建生态环境部，将生态环境保护设置为不能逾越的“红线”，对地方政府考核实行环境保护“一票否决制”，建立中央生态环保督察制度，指示各地任命“河长”、“湖长”和“林长”。
习近平执政期间，中国成为全球空气质量改善最快、森林资源增长最多和人工造林面积最大的国家。中国的水电、风电、太阳能发电、生物质发电装机稳居世界第一。作为其发起的“能源革命”成果之一，他领导建成全球规模最大碳市场，并向世界承诺中国将用远远短于发达国家所用时间实现从碳达峰到碳中和。“绿色低碳发展，这是潮流趋势，顺之者昌。”他说。
习近平认为，纠正不可持续的增长方式，是为了中华民族永续发展，也是要保护人类的家园，因为地球是唯一的。
“持续探索，勇往直前”
新加坡《联合早报》评价说：“环顾世界，没有任何一个国家能够像当今中国这样，以一种说到做到、只争朝夕的方式全面推进改革进程。”
世界知名咨询公司爱德曼的2023年信任度调查报告显示，中国整体信任度达83，在所有被调查国家中排名第一；同时，中国是所有受访国家中唯一对经济前景更加乐观的国家。
美国智库印度、中国及美国研究所学者丹·施泰因博克评论：“在习近平领导下，中国以世界级的创新和繁荣的消费实现了再平衡。”
观察人士认为，习近平作为新时代改革设计者、实践者和引领者，让邓小平开创的社会主义市场经济得以延续并不断书写新篇章，点燃了中国这艘巨轮加速驶向全面现代化的新引擎，使中华民族复兴进入不可逆转的历史进程。
这无疑是人类历史上影响最大的改革之一。上世纪90年代初，邓小平提出“发展才是硬道理”解放和发展了中国的社会生产力，增强了中国的综合国力，使世界经济增长有了无可替代的推进器和压舱石。
习近平把坚持高质量发展作为新时代的硬道理并以此在中国开启了一场全方位、系统性的变革，推动新型经济全球化。他提出构建创新、活力、联动、包容的世界经济，为推动构建人类命运共同体注入强大动能。
去年中国经济以5.2%的增速，贡献了全球三分之一的增长。中国发动机仍然强劲。
习近平今年5月访问“一带一路”共建国家塞尔维亚时，来到斯梅戴雷沃钢厂，他带去天坛和圣萨瓦教堂造型的钢制工艺品作为礼物，而钢材就来自这家钢厂。2016年，习近平访塞时就曾来到这里，并亲自关心、促成了合作项目。钢厂在中资企业投资后扭亏为盈，5000多名职工的工作岗位得到保障。
习近平提出的共建“一带一路”倡议是中国改革发展惠及世界的一个范例，它通过互联互通来促进各国经济增长、摆脱贫困。目前，已有150多个国家、30多个国际组织加入这个倡议。
中国的未来更为人关注。“如果继续改革和开拓新道路，中国就更有可能成功。”《南华早报》的报道说。
谈到未来的改革，习近平说，要“推出一批战略性、创造性、引领性改革”，“在重要领域和关键环节取得新突破”。
舆论对习近平领导的改革前景表示乐观——不仅因为中国有巨大的经济和市场体量、充足的增长空间和潜力，更在于它有具备坚强核心的执政党的统一领导，而且执政党有自我革命的决心和纠错能力，有把长远规划落实的行动力。
不少“全球南方”的人士认为，中国改革的成功为他们的现代化提供了借鉴和选择。巴西精英企业家协会中国区首席执行官多斯桑多斯说，中国提供了一种以人民为中心的新理念，摆脱了传统经济增长方式，可为地区未来发展提供更多思路。
针对海外一些对中国改革目标与意图的误读或担忧，习近平时常对外国朋友说，中国无意改变和挑战已有的世界秩序。同时中国也以更为积极的姿态参与和影响全球治理，在国际事务中始终主持公道正义。
通过全面深化改革，习近平继承发扬了邓小平的事业，让中国不仅续写了经济奇迹，还展现出文化魅力，创造了人类文明新形态。
中国的现代化既是最难的，也是最伟大的。习近平说，“这是一条前无古人的道路，但是我们会持续探索，勇往直前。”（记者周效政、张正富、程云杰、吴济海、许林贵、王秀琼、张钟凯、王亚光、石昊、张博文、付敏）（完）