Reform must include grassroots innovation

18th party congress Preview

As China heads into next month's Communist Party congress, observers say the new generation of central leaders must combine a well-conceived reform plan - characterized by "top-level design" - with a willingness to support grassroots innovation.

This new stage of reform is categorically different than previous stages, according to Yu Pei, a world history researcher with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, who said China's reform has reached the "deepwater area".