Editorial: How to Be Problem-Oriented in Institutional Reform

A new round of institutional reform has begun. The politburo of the Communist Party of China’s (CPC) Central Committee recently discussed a draft plan on the reform of party and state institutions. The meeting decided that the draft plan will be submitted to the second plenary session of the 20th CPC Central Committee for review. This is another major move five years after the last round of institutional reforms. It will also be the ninth round since China’s reform and opening-up in 1978. The politburo stressed that this reform should be “problem-oriented.” This gets to the heart of the matter. Although the plan has not yet been announced, we look to this new round of reforms to modernize the national governance system and to respond effectively to the challenges China currently faces. In particular, we must give high priority to the lessons we have learned from the three-year fight against the Covid-19 pandemic.