Where there is a political will, there is reform

As a new city bordering the established financial hub of Hong Kong, Shenzhen has for long remained in its shadow. It has depended on residents of the former British colony and now China's special administrative region for investors, weekend shoppers and home-buyers.

To some extent, the entire province of Guangdong used to depend on Hong Kong's overseas sales network to funnel in much of its business revenue.

But now since the coastal cities on the South China Sea have made remarkable economic gains, people are wondering if they would come to be known for themselves rather than their proximity or relation to Hong Kong. In terms of statistics, Guangdong has outgrown Taiwan in GDP, and much of that wealth is concentrated in the cluster of cities in the Pearl River Delta (PRD) region, not its northern mountains. This in itself should be reason enough for Guangdong to build its own brand name.

Once that appeared almost impossible. The early days of Shenzhen and, to a certain extent, of other cities in the PRD region saw more decadence and unruliness than the back streets of Kowloon in Hong Kong - from prostitution to gang crimes and everything in between. Older people blamed them on the penetration of capital, while others saw it as the weakness in the rule of law in the rush to make money.

Nonetheless, Deng Xiaoping never gave up on his ideal of change. During his visit to Shenzhen in early 1992, he encouraged the city to speed up its experimentation - to open up and learn, and be brave enough to compete.

Thanks to its efforts since the mid-1990s, Shenzhen has managed to build itself into a largely clean and orderly city, with up to 90 percent of its residents born in other parts of the country.

Shenzhen's rise has been phenomenal. It has taken over a huge portion of Hong Kong's manufacturing power and much of its supporting industries. There is no doubt that Shenzhen is a huge economic success story, as are some other cities in the PRD region.

Yet these cities are still looking to establish their identity. Their lack of identity, however, is not because of their economic ties with Hong Kong and overseas; it emanates from their inactivity in fields other than economics. For instance, these cities have seen little social or political reforms.

The recent replacement of a number of high-ranking officials in Guangdong, especially the Shenzhen mayor, shows how serious things have become. Guangdong may be the most affluent province on the Chinese mainland, but if it cannot set an example for the rest of the country despite its industrial power and financial resources, probably it will always face an identity crisis.

Under its previous mayor, now awaiting a court verdict in a corruption case, Shenzhen talked about political reform. But the mayor did not have the guts to put any of it into practice, especially the ones that could have threatened his hold on power and money.

The city's executive team, up to 60 officials in the city government, has reportedly undergone a major reshuffle this month. Plans are said to be afoot to make municipal government agencies function with fewer officials and more clearly defined duties.

We are talking about only a reform in the government structure, not a breakthrough in the old system like the launching of a modern economic zone in an old fishing village in the 1980s that eventually led to the creation of Shenzhen of today.

But the key point is that despite being an experimental project, some concrete action is being taken. And as long as the experiment progresses - especially if it reaches the community level - to help people decide and run their own affairs, there will be hope for political reform that corrupt officials never wish to implement.

E-mail: younuo@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 08/11/2009 page9)