Xi emphasizes improving modern corporate system with Chinese characteristics

Xi Jinping, Chinese president, general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, also chairman of the Central Military Commission presided over the fifth meeting of the Central Commission for Deepening Overall Reform (CCDOR) on the afternoon of June 11. He is also director of the commission. Several documents were reviewed and adopted at the meeting. They are Guidelines on Improving the Modern Corporate System with Chinese Characteristics, Guidelines on Establishing a Sound Mechanism for Ensuring Benefits of Grain-Growers and a Compensation Mechanism for Major Grain-Producing Areas, and Guidelines on Building an Open Environment for Scientific and Technological Innovation with Global Competitiveness.

While presiding over the meeting, Xi stressed that to improve the modern corporate system with Chinese characteristics, it is imperative to give play to the advantages of the socialist system with Chinese characteristics, strengthen the leadership of the CPC, and improve corporate governance. It is also imperative to promote enterprises to establish and improve a modern corporate system, under which property rights and rights and responsibilities are clearly defined, and governments do not interfere with corporate management. Such a system should be managed in a scientific manner so as to foster more world-class enterprises. To secure steady grain production and ensure food security, it is imperative to protect and motivate farmers to grow grain and spur local governments' enthusiasm for boosting grain production, and improve the mechanism for ensuring farmers' income and the compensation mechanism for major grain-producing areas. Policies must be more targeted and effective, so as to consolidate the foundation of food security.

Xi stressed the importance of driving innovation with further opening up, perfecting the system and mechanism for opening up in science and technology sector, and improving the global-oriented innovation system to actively integrate into the global innovation network. Importance should be attached to key areas and critical links to address deficiencies in the institution for opening up and innovation.

Li Qiang, Wang Huning, and Cai Qi attended the meeting. They are all members of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and deputy directors of the CCDOR.

It was noted at the meeting that to improve the modern corporate system with Chinese characteristics, it is imperative to respect the status of enterprises as major players in business activities, adhere to a problem-oriented approach, and give them more guidance by adopting differentiated policies in accordance with their size, stage of development, and ownership. It is imperative to strengthen the Party's overall leadership over state-owned enterprises (SOE) and optimize the related systems and mechanisms, so as to spur SOEs to strictly assume their responsibilities, improve the modern corporate governance of SOEs and further strengthen the supervision and management over state-owned capital. Efforts should be made to encourage and support eligible private enterprises to establish a modern corporate system, improve their corporate governance structure, regulate shareholder behavior, strengthen internal supervision, and optimize mechanism for risk prevention and control. It is essential to give full play to the leading role of Party building in strengthening internal management of private enterprises.

It was stressed at the meeting that to optimize the mechanisms for ensuring the incomes of grain growers and for compensating major grain-producing areas, it is imperative to place the boosting of overall agricultural production capacity in a more prominent position, improve policies related to pricing, subsidies and insurance, and explore new ways of improving the effectiveness of grain business. To better support and protect grain production, it is essential to refine the mechanisms for motivating main grain-producing areas by providing government rewards and subsidies, and explore multiple channels to compensate grain production and consumption areas. Concrete steps should be taken to build mechanisms for compensation between provincial-level regions to ensure that major grain-producing areas, major grain-consuming areas and areas where agricultural production and consumption are balanced all assume their responsibilities for safeguarding food security. Efforts should be coordinated to support small household farmers and new types of agricultural business entities, and step up policy support, service guidance and the expansion of common interests. Efforts should also be made to link small household farmers with modern agricultural development.

It was noted at the meeting that the strategies of "going global" and "bringing in" should be combined in order to create an open and globally-competitive environment for scientific and technological innovation. It is also necessary to expand international scientific and technological exchanges, strive to establish partnerships of cooperation and mutual benefits, as well as plan ahead and get deeply involved in global science and technology governance. It is essential to strengthen the building of an internationalized environment for scientific research, focus on practical concerns of scientific researchers, solve prominent problems for them, and ensure that talents will be introduced, be able to stay and apply their expertise to the utmost. Efforts should be made to improve the science and technology security system and risk prevention mechanism so that the line for security will never be crossed in an open environment.

Members of the CCDOR attended the meeting. Leading officials from relevant central Party and state departments sat in on the meeting.