Open, Rule-Of-Law Thinking Reshapes Chinese Economy

The fourth plenary session of the 19th CPC Central Committee convened at a critical moment in the process of China’s national rejuvenation, in the year of the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China, and at the confluence of the country’s two Centenary Goals. It therefore has great historical significance.

- LI Shaohui

Open Thinking

The session reviewed and adopted the CPC Central Committee’s Decision on Some Major Issues Concerning How to Uphold and Improve the System of Socialism with Chinese Characteristics and Advance the Modernization of China’s System and Capacity for Governance. Among others, Wu Jing’an, deputy director of the Urban Economy Study Section of Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, was impressed with the following line in the document: “Upholding and improving the system of socialist rule of law with Chinese characteristics and improving the Party’s capacity for law-based governance and law-based exercising of state power… Upholding and improving China’s basic socialist economic system and promoting the high-quality development of the economy.” In his view, this reflects China’s clear understanding that our world is undergoing profound changes unseen in a century and its commitment to letting the market play a decisive role in allocating resources and allowing the government play a better role.

When addressing the BRICS Business Forum held in Johannesburg in July 2018, Chinese President Xi Jinping said, “We are witnessing major changes unfolding in our world, something unseen in a century.” He predicted, “The next decade will be a crucial one in which new global growth drivers will take the place of old ones… The next decade will see faster changes in the international landscape and the international alignment of forces… The next decade will see a profound reshaping of the global governance system.”

In Wu’s view, these “unseen in a century” changes began with the 2008 financial crisis and have their roots in the global currency cycle that is centered on printing and issuing more U.S. dollars and the international economic cycle that follows the “consumer country + producer country” pattern.