Political reform keeps pace with development

The progress in China's reforms, especially to political institutions and democracy, is an issue of wide concern. And this is easy to understand. After all, the political perspective plays an important role in the country's overall reform and it cannot be separated from economic and social development.

The Communist Party of China (CPC) has always attached high importance to this issue. During the 17th National Congress of the CPC last year, Hu Jintao, general secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, stressed in his report that "people's democracy is the lifeblood of socialism".

For years, the popular opinion was that China had started reform in its economic system but its political system remained unchanged. This is a misunderstanding.