China’s New Reforms: the Role of the Party
Concept Paper
Timothy Garton Ash, after a recent visit to China, wrote that the next phase of the Chinese Communist Party’s (CPC) leadership of the People’s Republic “… is the most surprising and important political experiment on the face of the earth. No one in the 20th century expected it. No one in the 21st will be unaffected by its success or failure.”
No doubt, 2014 is a crucial year for China. This year marks the beginning of the overall implementation of the comprehensive reform plans ratified by the Third Plenum of the 18th Central Committee of CPC in 2013. The world is watching closely how China is to translate its ambitious plan of new reforms into realities and how China repositions itself in the world against the backdrop of complex global changes.
In its 65 years running the largest nation in the world, the Party has always been at the center of modern China’s development. Yet, to many outsiders, the Party’s role in China’s political governance has been opaque. The Third Plenum has begun a new era in which the Party is both front and center in leading the most significant development of our time – the Chinese renaissance. The Party and the World Dialogue 2014 seeks to blaze the trail by inaugurating a regularly held forum for the Party to speak directly to the world, and vice versa.
What is the purpose of China’s new round of reforms? What are the most distinctive features of the reform plans? Are the interests and pursuits of various social sectors taken into consideration? What are the concrete measures and the respective timetables for their implementation? How to coordinate various interests and build consensus in this process? How to break down old modes of thinking and the entrenched interests? What are the internal impact as well as external impact of China’s new reforms? These are some of the questions on the minds of China watchers across the world, and the Dialogue aims to bring together the senior leaders of the CPC, key policy-planners at central level and high-ranking practitioners at local levels to join the global discourse over China’s new reforms.
As an expert in China studies, you are surely exposed to various ideas on the above-mentioned issues. If you want to gain access to authoritative and first-hand views, however, the most assured means is direct contact and exchange with decision makers of the party. China Center for Contemporary World Studies (CCCWS) is the think tank affiliated with the International Department of the Central Committee of the CPC. The Party and the World Dialogue 2014 sponsored by CCCWS will provide this unique access on the theme of China’s New Reforms: the Role of the Party.
The conference will be a small gathering of the world’s leading experts whose works have strong relevance to China’s development. It is exclusive and by invitation only. Participants will include members of the CPC leadership and core decision-making circles along with reform practitioners at various levels. You will have direct and open engagement with senior officials from key departments of the Party. Participants will also include officials from reform-execution agencies at provincial, municipal and county/district levels.
The conference comprises three sub-topics, i.e.
1. Particularit ies vs. Commonalit ies: Reform with Chinese characteristics and cross cultural commonalit ies;
2. Consensus upon Plurality: How to build consensus for reform with a plurality of divergent interests and agenda;
3. Competit ion without Zero-sum Outcome: How to make China's rise, propelled by reforms, peaceful and constructive to other nations.
China’s reform blueprint and its execution is a global concern, not only because China’s obvious impact on the world but also because vast number of both developed and developing countries face daunting challenges in designing and executing reform initiatives in order to deliver better prospects for their peoples. Arguably, no nation in recent history has experienced reforms in depth, breadth, and scale that match those of China’s. The sharing of C hina’s experience can provide valuable insights.
China’s reform agenda also carries long-term geo-political implications. Its design and execution will impact China’s relations with the outside world. Needless to say, C hina’s neighbors, the United States and Europe, and the developing world are all stakeholders in the prospect of China’s peaceful development. China’s size and complexity make this upcoming reform era an extraordinary challenge, and opportunity, for C hina’s leadership and the world at large.
You will join Chinese as well as international thinkers in this direct, open, and in-depth dialogue with the leaders of the Party. On the sidelines of this Dialogue,participants will have the opportunity of visiting relevant Party and state institutions such as the CPC’s Central Party School. They will also be given access to provincial/municipal Party committees, Party organizations at grassroots levels, and major corporations.
We look forward to hosting you this September in Beijing.