Theoretical Thinking on Deepening the Economic System Reforms

The basic logic of China’s economic system reforms over the past 30 years or so is outlined at the beginning of this paper: reforms are cyclical in nature; economic reforms are inseparable from reforms in other fields; the relationship among reforms, development and stability is properly dealt with; and the theoretical logic of reforms is in line with the practical logic. The new context of China’s current reform is then pointed out: the economy has entered the “new normal”; the reforms have stepped into the unchartered water and the tough period. The political economics of reforms in the new context are: rebuilding reform consensus; improving reform impetus mechanism; reform interests balancing and incentive compatibility; reform mechanism design; combination of top-level design and “crossing the river by feeling the stones”; and allowing the people to obtain a reform dividend. At the end of this paper, the importance of enhancing reform determination, maintaining reform tenacity and continuously promoting reform is emphasized. A state without the means of some change is without the means of its conservation. Without such means, it might even risk the loss of that part of the constitution that it wished the most religiously to preserve. It reveals what is the driving force of reforms at the deepest level, that is, we are continuously reforming exactly for the purpose of preserving the nature of the socialist system. In the context of global institutional competition and reform competition, China’s continuous efforts in reforming itself can be said the most important logic of its reforms.