No stopping reform or closing the door

What China has achieved in the past four decades has vindicated the decision to initiate reform and opening-up. At the time, reform and opening-up were focused on how Chinese people's minds could be emancipated to embrace the notion of a market economy. Today, the domestic and international situations are very different from what they were 40 years ago, but the pursuit of further reform and opening-up still requires courage and resolve.

Domestically, what is urgently needed is not just to give people the green light to do whatever they were not allowed to do before, as was the practice in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Instead, governments at all levels need to have a clear mind that reforms must promote a healthy business environment and build a strong domestic market.

They will have to bear these aims continually in mind, since the more specific a policy is the more difficult it will be to implement, as it will likely infringe upon some vested interests that have been formed over the past four decades. Oftentimes, local governments will have to give up their own vested interests or rack their brains to balance different interest groups.