Social inequality and lack of trust in the authorities show modernization of political system and mechanisms needed

Of the many innovative decisions made at the Third Plenary Session of the 18th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China as a blueprint for the ongoing reform drive, the modernization of governance is the most significant.

By highlighting the governance system and governing capability in the roadmap document released after the plenum, the Party has made clear the direction of reform is modernizing its political system, which in turn requires substantial innovations in politics, decision-making procedure, the judicial process, the budget and supervision. It is the experience of reform over the past 35 years that has highlighted the importance of improving the State governance system and the Party's governance capabilities. For the past 35 years, China owes its constant economic development and social stability largely to continuous reform, which has been governance modernization in essence. Now the plenum has offered the needed theoretical support for further governance modernization with the roadmap document.