Full Text: Report on the Work of the Government(19)

4. Deepening reform and opening up with greater political courage and vision

Reform and opening up are the fundamental force that drives China's development and progress. We can continue to advance our cause only by adhering to reform and opening up. China has entered a crucial stage of reform. We must further emancipate our minds, comprehensively deepen reform of the economic structure, continue to actively yet prudently carry out reform of the political structure, deepen reform of the cultural administrative system, accelerate reform of the social system, improve the system for promoting ecological progress; and constantly deepen reforms.

We need to improve the socialist market economy. We should unwaveringly consolidate and develop the public sector of the economy and encourage, and support and guide the development of the non-public sector, so as to foster a structural environment in which economic entities under different forms of ownership have equal access to factors of production in accordance with the law, compete on a level playing field and enjoy equal legal protection. We should deepen reform of state-owned enterprises and key industries.

We should quicken reform of the fiscal and taxation systems, adjust relations between the central government and local governments concerning financial resources and powers, and improve the system of transfer payments. We should improve the public finance system, institute a system of local taxation, and establish a taxation system conducive to optimizing the economic structure and enhancing social fairness.

We should deepen reform of the financial system and improve the modern financial system so that it supports development of the real economy. We should raise the competitiveness of the banking, securities and insurance industries, accelerate development of a multilevel capital market, and actively develop the bond market. We should steadily carry out reforms to make interest rates and the RMB exchange rate more market-based, expand cross-border use of the RMB and gradually achieve the RMB's convertibility under capital accounts.

We should deepen reform of the investment and financing systems, carry out price reform and improve the pricing mechanism for resource products and the system of compensation for ecological damage.

We should continue to actively yet steadily advance function-based reform of public institutions.