Book preferences hint at China's will for mild reform

The bookshelves of Chinese state leaders are sometimes a source of curiosity for ordinary readers to understand their personal interests or possible policy orientations.

"The Old Regime and the Revolution," an 1856 treatise written by French political thinker Alexis de Tocqueville, is the latest work to be scrutinized by netizens after rumors spread that the book is among those read by China's central leaders.

The previous favorite was Marcus Aurelius's "Meditation," which became a bestseller after Premier Wen Jiabao quoted it twice during his second term.

"My old boss in Zhongnanhai (the seat of the central government) recommended Tocqueville's book, adding that a modernizing heavyweight like China cannot expect roses all the way; it should brace for a rough ride," wrote economist Hua Sheng on Tencent, a popular microblogging site.

Calls for the kind of continuous reform advocated by Tocqueville have elicited a warm response online.

"Tocqueville tries to prove that if social reforms are not in lockstep with economic reforms, a 'middle income trap' could cause a real crisis," wrote economist Xu Xiaonian on Sina Weibo, another popular microblogging site.

Reform is one of the biggest tasks being tackled by the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC), scheduled to begin on Nov. 8, as many are concerned that reform is losing steam after 30 years of progress.

The widening income gap has proved to be a particularly thorny issue, with netizens calling for investigations into conspicuously affluent officials and bringing cases of extreme poverty into the spotlight.

The People's Daily, the CPC flagship newspaper, has used its Sina Weibo account to call on authorities to "narrow the income gap to ward off a possible social rip."

"We should divide the pie in a fair manner and ask for the conviction to break up vested interests," it said.

As China's social structure is diversifying, reformers have found it difficult to satisfy multiple demands, which has made it harder to make income distribution more equal, the newspaper said.

The State Council decided last month to establish an overall income distribution plan by the end of the year, marking a substantive step forward.

Voting rights are another area of contention that the CPC is working to address. Disputes over land use, financing and elections in the village of Wukan in south China's Guangdong Province led to large-scale protests in September 2011.

In March, a Wukan village committee was elected, creating an institutional guarantee to help adjust relations between land developers and local residents.

The CPC's support of similar grassroots democracy efforts is intended to reflect its determination to improve social management.

Professor Frank Pieke, an expert on modern China at Leiden University, said the CPC has an objective of creating a "strong, effective and forward-looking government, as well as to cultivate responsible, trusting and high-quality citizens who inhabit an active, autonomous and governable society."

Chinese authorities are also contemplating loosening controls over social mobility by reforming the "hukou," or household residence system, which ties public benefits, like education and health care, to one's place of residence.

"I stand for eliminating the hukou system. The key is to provide public services that benefit everyone and are not based on the system," wrote Hu Shuli, editor of Caixin magazine.

China's urbanization rate reached 51.3 percent in 2011, marking the first time for the urban population to outnumber the rural population.

"Reform in a gradual manner is the most cost-effective way," said Yi Gang, deputy governor of the People's Bank of China and advocate of Tocqueville's style of reform.