CPC decision on advancing rule of law draws worldwide attention

Experts and media outlets worldwide have paid high attention as the just-concluded fourth plenary session of the 18th Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee has decided to comprehensively advance the rule of law in the country.[Special coverage]

The decision, which set the blueprint for rule of law in the world's second largest economy, would create a better legal environment for China to deepen its all-around reform and better protect the achievements of the country's reform and opening-up process, they said.

The decision comes at a critical moment for China to advance reform and opening-up and is of epoch-making significance for its economic and political reforms, said Qian Feng, vice president of the Chinese-language Asia News Time newspaper in Thailand.

Bambang Suryono, head of the academic research organization of Nanyang ASEAN Foundation, said advancing the rule of law in China will create a level-playing legal field for both Chinese and foreign entrepreneurs and investors, lowering running costs of the business sector while increasing its operating efficiency.

It will also provide legal foundation to fight against vested interests, and also be conducive to protecting the achievements of China's reform and opening-up, Suryono added.

Severino Cabral, director of the Brazilian Institute for China and Asia-Pacific Studies, said that the decision to "comprehensively advance the rule of law" sent out a message that China will move forward.

Munene Macharia, professor of the United States International University at Nairobi, Kenya, said "to improve a socialist system of laws with Chinese characteristics, in which the Constitution is taken as the core, to strengthen the implementation of the Constitution and to promote administration by law" are of great importance to China.

CPC's decision to advance the rule of law is a proactive step on the part of the ruling party to reduce political and social tensions, he said, adding the rule of law will accelerate the anti-corruption move and help modernize China's governance.

"A vibrant rule of law will bolster China's international image and also increase foreign direct investment," Macharia told Xinhua.

City councilor Sun Yaoheng of South Africa's Johannesburg said comprehensively advancing the rule of law in China will bring about more equity policies and overall improvement to the country's development.

"The rule of law and well-founded policies with strong execution are essential to a prosperous China," he added.

As a globally influential country, with achievements in comprehensively advancing the rule of law, China will set an example for other countries to follow, the councilor said.

The Associated Press said in a report that the CPC "announced steps Thursday to improve judicial independence and check political interference in the courts in hopes to boost legal justice and alleviate social tensions."

The Reuters reported that the decisions made at the CPC plenary session "are pivotal to the workings of China's market economy, the world's second largest."

A report from dpa, the German news agency, said that CPC leaders "on Thursday vowed to promote greater judicial independence by reducing interference in legal proceedings from party officials."