The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has just concluded the Third Plenary Session of its 20th Central Committee, emphasizing continued reform and opening up.

Phrases like "reform will not pause, and opening up will not stop," and "the market plays a decisive role in resource allocation," suggest a commitment to these principles. However, Xi Jinping's definition of reform diverges significantly from the Western interpretation rooted in Deng Xiaoping's era, which leaned towards a market economy and some political liberalization.

Under Xi, the term “reform” has been redefined. Xi has clarified that moving towards Western "universal values" and political systems is a misinterpretation. The Third Plenary Session reaffirmed that reforms must maintain the CCP’s leadership, adherence to Marxism, socialism with Chinese characteristics and the people's democratic dictatorship.

This version of reform, according to Xi, “will neither take the old closed and rigid path nor the erroneous path of changing flags and altering banners.”

Under this premise, the party must constantly “reform,” or in other words, adapt to the times, adjusting policies for governing the country and managing the economy to best serve the ultimate goal of maintaining and strengthening party rule.

Reform is not an adjustment made for special circumstances or in a specific direction but a........

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