The important tasks for China's reform this year is to transfer the mode of economic growth whereas the fundamental way to respond to its challenges is precisely to go on advancing the reform and opening up - this is a gist of the ace economist Wu Jinglian's exclusive interview with People's Daily reporter Li Xia, in which Wu enunciated, among other issues, the priority and difficult points of the reform in 2007, a year in which the development concepts set by the Communist Party of China (CPC) in its 16th National Congress five years ago will be carried out in an all-round way and the 17th Party National Congress will be convened. The questions and answers of the interview are as follows:

The mode of growth is yet to be fully transferred

Q: What is the focus of China's reform this year?

A: The Party and government have all along paid close attention to the transfer of the mode of economic growth, and it constituted a basic goal during the country's "Ninth Five-Year Plan period (1991-95) to shift it from an extensive to intensive type. To date, the mode of China's economic growth has, nevertheless, not yet been transferred fully and its leading method is still to increase the input of resources. The crucial cause is that many practices in disposition of resources under the past planned economic system remain, as governments at various levels still take control of the disposition of land and credit and other basic resources. All these practices have stemmed the market from giving scope to its due role in the allocation of resources.

Therefore, to effect the transfer of the mode of economic growth and implement the scientific outlook on development, the fundamental way out is to press ahead with the reform unswervingly in the set orientation of building the socialist market economy. This year, keen attention should be given to the reform in the management system of land, pertaining to the price of energy and resources, and in other spheres; the reform of the financial sector should be deepened, the role of market mechanism be enhanced further in disposition of key production factors and the twisting of production factors in some spheres due to government interference should lessen or be totally done away with.

Reform of the government itself is crucial

Q. Of all the difficulties the reform is facing, what is the most crucial?

A. China's reform is confronted with various sorts of challenges this year, and the reform of the government itself is the most crucial. Proceeding from the strategic task of constructing a harmonious society, the task of the government reform is designed not merely to reduce or eliminate administrative interference in the disposition of resources and shaping of production factors, so as to provide the market mechanism with opportunities to bring their basic role into fuller play. Moreover, another tougher task for the government reform is to set up a platform for propping up the market mechanism. Without such a platform, it is hard to avoid the twisting of regulations, chaotic state and interferences in market transaction by government power. China had made a breakthrough in dealing with numerous major corruption cases last year. A challenge the country is facing this year is to make another breakthrough in its administrative setup and score much more headway in this regard.

Good public management hinges on the rule by law

Q. What is the government's objective in the system development?

A. If the penalty to a corrupted official represents a response after the exposure of his corruption deeds, the more drastic viable measure is to introduce the rule by law, which poses an indispensable, systematic prop to a modern market economy. When market exchange outgrows the limits of a region to become a national one or transgresses the limits of a country to become a global one, the devoid of the rule of law will lead to market disorderliness, the bullying of others and a monopoly of the market. In the words of Nobel prize laurel for economics Amartya Sen, without the guarantee of a transparency under the democratic rule of law, it is impossible to build social credibility and, without the social credibility, modern market business is out of the question. So in a new era starting from the beginning of this year, people should tide over all kinds of obstacles to advance the great cause of building up a democratic nation under the rule of law.

Function of public service should be intensified

Q. What kind of role should the government play in its setup or system development?

A. The government has a decisive role to play in the course of building up a nation under the rule of law. On the one hand, it has always been its duty and obligation to perform the good public administration. On the other hand, by going in for the rule of law, the authoritative government departments are meant to "make revolution on themselves" and confine the power of their officials to the scope as enshrined by the constitution and the basic economic system. These officials are demanded to do the best to perform their duties and serve the people better still.

Another big, urgent challenge for the government reform is to provide public services. At present, education, medical and health work and other rudimentary pubic services still fall short of people's expectations and the requirements for building a harmonious society. In recent years, government departments at different levels have taken some relatively intensified measures to beef up the function of public services and brought about an impartiality among such services. These measures have begun to pay off with some apparent practical results.

In the meanwhile, with the sustained attention of public opinion, the expectation of various walks of social life toward the function of public services has uplifted noticeably and is likely to upgrade further. So it will be a tough challenge for governments at all levels in the years ahead to continue to beef up and optimize public services in an effort to keep pace with demands from society at large.

In a nutshell, the basic way to respond to concrete challenges is to go on spurring the reform and opening-up, that is, to overcome resistance in practical work, adhere to the orientation of the reform and keep improving the socialist market economic setup in a bid to give a fuller scope to the market's basic role in allocating resources of production factors.

By People's Daily Online