Asia Centre

A few days before the opening of the annual session of the National People’s Congress, Wen Jiabao published an article in The People’s Daily in which he offered his vision for the future of the Chinese reforms, both in economic and, especially, political terms.

The article entitled "Some questions pertaining to the historical tasks in the initial stages of socialism and some international issues[1]" briefly describes the gains made by the economic reform of the country, the rise in living standards and the partial eradication of poverty, but deals more particularly with the announcement of challenges as well as the question of the pursuit of the political reform process.  The article set the tone for the press conference called at the close of the session of the National People’s Congress. The Prime Minister displayed his concern by the economic situation which he described as being "imbalanced, uncoordinated, unstable and unsustainable".

In preparation for his next term as Prime Minister, Wen gave only a brief overview of his government’s achievements so far, and chose to centre his comments on the programme for the next five years, setting out his objectives for the country’s economic and political life, with his message being aimed at the Chinese people as much as at the Party’s cadres.

The press took up the issues raised in this article, drawing special attention to the development of the economic work programme[2], as well as to the ongoing concertation with various groups (academic experts and cadres not from the ranks of the Party) and the importance of making the general population aware of this programme: "If the masses do not feel concerned by the governmnet’s report to the National People’s Congress, and if they do not wish to discuss it or offer their opinion or ideas, then the report will be a failure."

Although the "social productive forces" are more developed than in the past, China remains a highly populous country, with structural imbalances between urban and rural areas, and between provinces. The fundamental structure of the "under-developed productive forces" has not been resolved. Whilst there are still some acheivements to be made in the economic sphere, this structural reform needs to be accompanied by political reform. This is, however, where Wen Jiabao nuances his discourse, both for the Party cadres and for the reformers in academic and political circles[3], since his article goes on to spell out the success of the political and legal reforms, whilst maintaining that, in China, the "structure of the socialist market economy is imperfect, democracy and the legal system do not have a sufficiently strong basis. Problems remain in the area of social injustice, corruption and a socialist system that is not yet mature enough". For these reasons, the Prime Minister concludes, "China has not yet emerged from the initial stages of socialism and remains a developing country".

Given the growing number of intellectuals calling for political reform, Wen Jiabao takes a cautious line. In attributing the cases of social injustice and corruption to "the imperfection and the immaturity" of the current socialist system, he assures the conservatives that the Party is not abandoning the socialist path, while warning the reformers that only moderate progress can be made through political reforms.

This, for Wen, does not exclude continuing along the path of political reforms. In his view, international power is not measured solely by military force, but also by the "cultural level", which is assessed through "institutional culture" (制度文明). This term remains vague, but could include "democracy, the legal system, freedom and human rights", which are not "the monopoly of capitalism". It seems to mean essentially, for China, becoming "a democracy governed by the rule of law within a socialist system".