The upcoming 20th Central Committee Third Plenary Session of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) will restart reform and opening up? In my previous article “CCP Sets Restrictions for ‘Deepening Reform’ – Third Plenum Will Amount to Nothing,” I analyzed this and concluded that it is impossible.
Two pieces of news on June 11 can be seen as releasing another signal that the Third Plenum will not restart reform and opening up.
One was that on that day, the CCP Central Committee for Deepening Reform held its fifth meeting and reviewed and approved documents such as “Opinions on Improving China’s Modern Enterprise System.”
According to party media reports, the meeting emphasized “promoting the establishment of modern enterprise systems in enterprises with clear property rights, clear rights and responsibilities, separation of government and enterprises, and scientific management.”
Regarding private enterprises, the meeting pointed out the need to encourage eligible private enterprises to establish modern enterprise systems, improve corporate governance structure, regulate shareholder behaviors, strengthen internal supervision, enhance risk prevention mechanisms, and improve internal management levels.
The terms “separation of government and enterprises” and “modern enterprise system,” along with “liberating thoughts,” together constituted the mainstream discourse system of CCP’s reform and opening up in the last century, but have rarely been seen in recent years. Now that these old phrases are being brought up again, does it mean that they really want to restart reform and opening up?
Hold on. The meeting also emphasized that to improve China’s modern enterprise system, it is necessary to focus on leveraging the advantages of China’s socialist system with Chinese characteristics and strengthen the leadership of the party. In the establishment of modern enterprise systems for private enterprises, the role of party building should also be emphasized.
So, the modern enterprise system that the CCP wants to establish and improve is a system with Chinese characteristics. What are Chinese characteristics? The key point is to strengthen the leadership of the party.
The other piece of news is that on the same day, a WeChat official account called “Shishuo Xinyu” under the CCP’s State Administration for Market Regulation released a message stating that the administration recently issued the “Guiding Opinions on Strengthening Party Building Work for the Network Contract Delivery Personnel” (referred to as “Opinions”).
The article mentioned that the issuance of the “Opinions” is to implement the CCP Central Committee’s decision on strengthening party building work for new business formats and new employment groups and to do a good job in party building work for network contract delivery personnel.
In fact, the CCP began reaching out to emerging industries such as food delivery and ride-hailing services several years ago. For example, in April 2022, Meituan established a party branch for delivery riders and delved into exploring the rider care and protection plan. According to data released by ManBang Group in 2022, a total of 32 party branches were established for truck drivers. In 2023, Fast Dog Taxi, a benchmark enterprise in the same-city freight industry, also established a party committee.
From the separation of government and enterprises, the establishment of modern enterprise systems to the formation of delivery workers’ party organizations, these two seemingly unrelated events actually emphasize the same thing – “strengthening the leadership of the party.”
Deng Xiaoping’s launch of reform and opening up, although also emphasized the need to uphold the party’s leadership, but in essence, the key to reform and opening up was to moderately weaken the party’s leadership, loosening the noose that the CCP had tightened around the necks of the Chinese people during the Mao era. The difference between Xi Jinping and Deng Xiaoping is that he wants to strengthen the party’s leadership and tighten the reins that Deng Xiaoping loosened.
Do you still remember that on May 23, Xi Jinping emphasized at a symposium with entrepreneurs and experts in Jinan that “no matter how reform is conducted, the fundamental principles of upholding the comprehensive leadership of the party, adhering to Marxism, adhering to the socialist path with Chinese characteristics, and adhering to the people’s democratic dictatorship must not waver.” Whether it is the CCP’s Deepening Reform Committee passing the “Opinions on Improving China’s Modern Enterprise System” or the State Administration for Market Regulation issuing the “Guiding Opinions on Strengthening Party Building Work for the Network Contract Delivery Personnel,” it can be said that they concretely embody the CCP leader’s intention to strengthen the party’s leadership. As long as this principle remains unchanged, reform and opening up will absolutely not be restarted.