Wu Guangqiang

    SHENZHEN is marking the 20th anniversary of the famous speeches by Deng Xiaoping during his tour of South China from Jan. 18 to Feb. 21, 1992.

    The tour and speeches are seen as decisive in ending the debate over whether the mainland should proceed with reforms and putting China on a fast track of economic and social development, which has resulted in an unprecedented lasting boom. Mr. Deng would find China’s enormous achievements beyond even his expectation if he were still alive.

    The core message of Deng’s speeches is “making development a top priority.” The plain wording reveals the once highly controversial and now widely accepted truth: improving people’s lives is the fundamental task of the ruling party and government and to achieve this goal, any approach can be tried and taken, on the basis of political and economic stability.

    The historic impact of Deng’s speeches is far-reaching: China has successfully embarked on a unique road of development that gives full play to the nation’s potential by learning from the world’s most successful approaches to social and cultural development, such as a market economy, rule of law and social equity.

    Shenzhen Special Economic Zone, a test ground for reform and innovation since its establishment, has played a part in exploring uncharted territories and taking risks to gather valuable experience for the rest of the country. In many ways, Shenzhen used to lead China.

    However, with special policies that originated in Shenzhen now being adopted nationwide, Shenzhen is losing its leading edge. The dividend gained from reforms has almost been used up and reform is at a standstill. Shenzhen, along with the rest of the nation, is once again at a crossroad.

    The old-fashioned way of economic growth heavily reliant on labor-intensive manufacturing and export calls for upgrades or the menace of a Japan-style long-term recession is not impossible. But successful economic transformation is bottlenecked by some factors, such as the lagging of institutional innovation and the lack of stimulus for industrial upgrades.

    A popular argument both at home and abroad holds that further advance in economic and social realms is unlikely unless bolder and deeper political reforms are launched. And when it comes to political reform, some academic pundits refer it to Western ideas. In present circumstances, the consensus is that it is still premature to proceed with any major political reform before adequate experience is accumulated at various levels of society.

    Can Shenzhen do something new and pioneering under the circumstances? My answer is yes. Much more can be done to push forward with reforms in various ways.

    The chief malady troubling the country is not the commonly assumed absence of democracy, checks and balances of power, and public supervision — all these exist in the forms different from Western ones — but the deficiency of the legal system, and the poor implementation of policies and laws.

    Using the containment of corruption as an example, though the central authorities have a firm political will and an elaborately designed system, lax enforcement leaves it more formalistic than effective.     

    Expectations are high as Shenzhen mulls over some brave experiments to be carried out in Qianhai. New measures will include the establishment of a slimmer and more efficient administration committee, an anti-corruption body similar to Hong Kong’s ICAC, a new court that will adopt some of Hong Kong’s judiciary practices, and requirement of officials to declare their incomes and financial records.

    If Shenzhen succeeds in establishing a modern, clean, efficient and transparent governance system and judicial system within the existing political framework, this will have an equally significant impact on China’s progress as that of all the reforms done by the city since Deng’s tour in 1992.

    Deng’s stress on the necessity of reform is as meaningful today as it was 20 years ago: “Refusal to adopt the policy of reform and opening up will lead us nowhere but an impasse.”

    (The author is an English tutor and a freelance writer. He can be reached at jw368@163.com.)