Major outcomes expected by 2020, with priority on solving practical problems

President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, addresses a grand gathering to celebrate the 40th anniversary of China's reform and opening-up at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, on Dec 18, 2018. [Photo/Xinhua]

President Xi Jinping called for decisive results to be achieved in reform over key areas by 2020 as he presided over a meeting of senior officials on deepening reform on Wednesday.

Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, said at the meeting of the Central Committee for Deepening Overall Reform that Beijing will continue to fight tough battles and “bite the hardest bones” to ensure that each task will be fulfilled.

The committee reviewed and passed more than a dozen guidelines, plans and reports on reform in various sectors. There also was a call for more reform measures to be introduced to help maintain the healthy development of the economy and social stability and to enhance the sense of gain, happiness and security among the people.

The priority of reforms should focus more on solving practical problems, with more efforts made to identify problems precisely and solve them thoroughly, according to a statement released after the meeting.

The committee reviewed and passed a plan to launch a science and technology innovation board at the Shanghai Stock Exchange and experiment with a registration-based system for initial public offerings, measures announced by Xi at the opening of the China International Import Expo in November.

The plan was an important step in carrying out an innovation-driven development strategy and deepening reform of the capital market, the statement said.

The committee called for more inclusiveness from the capital market for businesses devoted to innovation in science and technology as well as greater efforts to support innovation in core technologies and improvements in the capacity to serve the real economy.

The testing of a registration-based system for IPOs should be carried out steadily. It also must be coordinated with reforms in basic systems such as issuance, listing, information disclosure, transactions and delisting. That way, a stock issuance and listing mechanism centering on information disclosure can be established and refined, the statement said.

Meeting participants also passed a guideline to deepen reform in areas related to political and legal affairs. They stressed the need to implement the judicial responsibility mechanism across the board and deepen litigation reform.

They also passed a guideline on the establishment of a natural reserve system based on national parks and a guideline on pushing forward reform in the natural resources property system.