A top-level reform group headed by President Xi Jinping has likened the country's reform drive to a "revolution" that challenges vested interests, while calling for real action to keep it going.
"Reform is a revolution that aims to rectify the system and challenge vested interests. There is no way to do it other than using real swords and spears," said a statement released after a meeting of the Leading Group for Overall Reform, using the Chinese idiom that underscores the importance of the task.
Xi presided over the meeting on Monday, which was also attended by the group's deputy heads Liu Yunshan and Zhang Gaoli.
In the statement, local committees of the Communist Party of China (CPC) at all levels are urged to focus on the major obstructions to reform, which are holding back local development and are closely related to the people's immediate interests.
The statement called for precise and innovative measures based on detailed research and careful evaluation, stressing that "officials daring to reform should be promoted and those lacking the reform spirit should be demoted."
The system to award outstanding performance and punish underachievers should be improved, it added.
Xi said that local Party and governmental agencies are an important force in the reform process, calling on Party organizations at all levels to resolutely implement all decisions made by the CPC Central Committee.
The statement further called on central Party and governmental authorities to strengthen support for local reform implementation and to improve the study and analysis of problems that have emerged.
Monday's meeting also saw the approval of documents on legislators' duties, the criminal litigation system and ecological experimental zones.
The statement said legislators at all levels must publicize CPC development blueprints, guidelines, policies and major decisions, and address any problems raised by the general public.
It was stressed at the conference that the litigation system must be reformed to improve court proceedings, access to legal representation must be protected, and fair judgment is ensured.
Reform in this respect is key to preventing wrongful convictions, said the statement.
The establishment of national ecological experimental zones was also mentioned. Various preliminary tasks must be done, including plans on land use, offers of compensation for ecological protection and the linking of green development with the performance evaluation of officials.
The statement called for improvements to the supervision system, to ensure that decisions by the judiciary are properly followed.
Party and governmental organs should support the enforcement work of the courts to ensure an environment where punishments for those that ignore court rulings can be clearly felt, the statement said.
