The full text of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee's decision on major issues concerning comprehensively deepening reforms was issued Friday, providing a roadmap for China's further development.
The decision was approved at the Third Plenary Session of the 18th CPC Central Committee held from Nov. 9 to 12 in Beijing
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China to claim more gains of state-owned capital
Thirty percent of the gains of China's state-owned capital will have to be handed back to the government by 2020, according to a decision issued on Friday by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC).
At present, the proportion ranges from zero to 15 percent. The money will be used to improve people's livelihood, said the decision.
The lengthy policy document -- officially named "a decision on major issues concerning comprehensive and far-reaching reforms" -- was approved by the Third Plenary Session of the 18th CPC Central Committee, a four-day key meeting which ended on
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China encourages private capital to develop mixed-ownership economy
China has decided to allow more non-state-owned capital into the market in order to develop a more mixed-ownership economy.
According to a decision issued on Friday by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC), non-state-owned capital will be allowed to take equity stakes in projects featuring investment by state-owned capital, and employees of multi-ownership enterprises will be able to hold shares in their companies.
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China to tackle monopolies, introduce competition: CPC
China will promote market-oriented reform in state-owned enterprises (SOEs) by further breaking monopolies and introducing competition, according to a document issued on Friday after a key meeting of the Communist Party of China (CPC).
The functions of different SOEs will be clearly defined, the document said.
More state-owned assets will be channeled into public welfare SOEs. Those in natural monopoly sectors, such as energy and minerals among others, will separate government functions from enterprise management, promote franchises and government monitoring of them will be improved, according to the document.
Administrative monopolies will be further broken and competitive business will be introduced, the railway sector being one example. This will mean resources are better allocated, the document said.
Information disclosure, such as financial budgets of SOEs, will be further explored, the document said.
The country will promote checks and balances in SOEs' corporate governance, set up professional manager system so outside talent can be hired and introduce more competition among management, the document said.
Salaries and business spending among management in SOEs will be regulated, the document said.
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China to allow private capital to set up banks
China will open up the banking sector wider, on condition of strengthened regulation, by allowing qualified private capital to set up small- and medium-sized banks, the Communist Party of China (CPC) said in a landmark policy document released on Friday.
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China to hone income distribution
China will enhance regulation of income secondary distribution through taxation, according to a key document of the Communist Party of China (CPC) publicized on Friday.
The country will meanwhile focus on increasing the share of work remuneration in primary distribution, the document said, explaining that information systems on personal income and property will be established among efforts to narrow income gaps between urban and rural areas, different regions and sectors.
China aims to bring about an income distribution pattern that is olivary in shape, according to the document.
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China to abolish 'reeducation through labor system
China will abolish the "reeducation through labor" system as part of a major effort to protect human rights, said a key policy document of the Communist Party of China (CPC) published Friday.
The decision, approved by the Third Plenary Session of the 18th CPC Central Committee on Tuesday, was seen as a detailed reform plan for China in the coming decades.
The controversial correction system, commonly known as "Laojiao," began in the 1950s. The program usually takes in minor offenders whose offence is not severe enough to take them to court.
Currently a Laojiao committee consists of government departments such as police, civil affairs and education departments. It is able to detain people for up to four years without an open trial.
Wang Gongyi, a former senior researcher with the Ministry of Justice, told Xinhua that in practice there are no rigid procedures to regulate how the committee should decide the criminal facts and the application of punishment.
"It is not good for human rights protection to deprive a citizen of his personal freedom without a court proceeding," Wang said.
The Laojiao program has caused several highly controversial incidents in the last few years.
Village official Ren Jianyu in southwest China's Chongqing Municipality was put in the Laojiao program on a two-year term for "spreading negative information and inciting the subversion of state power" in 2011.
His case drew nationwide attention and the local committee later revoked his sentence and released him in November last year after he had served half of the sentence.
Another widely known case is Tang Hui, a 40-year-old mother who was put in the program in central China's Hunan Province, for petitioning for harsher punishments for those found guilty of raping her daughter and forcing her into prostitution.
In July, a high court in Hunan ruled in favor of her when she sued the local authority for infringing upon her personal freedom and causing psychological damage.
Legal experts have widely criticized the program and argued that it contradicts laws.
Under China's Criminal Law, the lightest penalty is three months to two years of home arrest under surveillance. And the second lightest is one to six months in a police detention facility.
"This means, sometimes the Laojiao program can be harsher than a penalty imposed by a court," said Professor Chen Weidong, with Renmin University of China. "That's why some minor offenders would rather be prosecuted."
Although the CPC has made the decision, the Laojiao program will not be formally abolished until the top legislature amends the laws.
Yi Xiangde, research fellow with the Institute of Law of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told Xinhua that both the courts and government will also have to issue new rules.
"We will need judicial explanations on how to punish minor offenders. The Ministry of Justice will need to speed up community correction programs to fill in the blanks after the Laojiao program is abolished," Yi said.
Last month, Zhou Qiang, president of the Supreme People's Court, called on courts at all levels to shorten the process of hearing and concluding minor criminal cases, and promote community correction programs.
According to the decision, laws relating to correction and punishment will be improved. Community correction which helps convicts return to society will also be improved.
China introduced community correction programs in 2003. So far about 620,000 offenders are in the program and the recidivism rate remains at 0.2 percent.
JUDICIAL EFFORTS ON HUMAN RIGHTS
The decision made a number of other promises to improve human rights in the judicial system.
China will also reduce the number of crimes subject to the death penalty "step by step," it said.
The last time China reduced the number of crimes punishable by death was in 2011. A revision to the Criminal Law reduced it by 13 to 55. It was also the first time since the Criminal Law took effect in 1979.
The country will work to ban extorting confessions through torture and physical abuse, the document said.
Courts will be told to tighten the practice of ruling out illegally obtained evidence, while law enforcement agencies will regulate procedures of sealing up, seizing, freezing and handling properties involved in judicial investigations.
Wrong judgements will be prevented and corrected in a better way and those responsible will be investigated and could face punishment.
The country will also work to improve legal aid for citizens.
"Lawyers will play an important role in protecting the legal rights and interests of citizens and corporations in line with the law," the document said.
Their rights to practice will be protected and their malpractice will be punished under improved systems, it said.
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China to accelerate 'hukou' system reform
As part of its urbanization push, China will accelerate the reform of its "hukou" system, or household registration system, to help farmers become urban residents, the Communist Party of China (CPC) said Friday in a landmark policy document.
The lengthy policy document -- officially named "a decision on major issues concerning comprehensive and far-reaching reforms" -- was approved by the Third Plenary Session of the 18th CPC Central Committee, a four-day key meeting that ended on Tuesday.
The country will relax overall control over farmers settling in towns and small cities, and relax restrictions on settling in medium-sized cities in an orderly manner, the document showed.
China should set reasonable requirements for rural residents to obtain hukou in large cities, and strictly control the size of population in megacities.
The document also said effort should be made to make basic urban public services available for all permanent residents in cities and include all rural residents into the affordable housing system and the social security network.
Household registration reform is part of the improvemnt to the mechanisms for healthy urbanization, as China builds a new type of urbanization that puts people at the center.
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China to reduce capital punishment 'step by step'
China will reduce the number of crimes subject to death penalty "step by step," said a key policy document of the Communist Party of China (CPC) published Friday.
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China to ease one-child policy
China will loosen its decades-long one-child population policy, allowing couples to have two children if one of them is an only child, according to a key decision issued on Friday by the Communist Party of China (CPC).
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China to improve grass-roots law-enforcement: reform decision
China will strengthen law-enforcement in sectors related to people's livelihood, according to the full text of a key reform decision released by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) on Friday.
The CPC pledged to reinforce grass-roots law-enforcement power over food and drugs, work safety, environmental protection, labor and social security, as well as maritime space and sea islands.
According to the decision, approved at a plenary session of the CPC Central Committee on Tuesday, China will deepen reform of its administrative law enforcement system.
It said that China will establish an authoritative and efficient law-enforcement system by reorganizing law enforcement bodies, centralizing law-enforcement power and eliminating overlaps in the functions of various bodies.
The country will improve its urban management system and the quality of law-enforcement activities and other services, the decision added.
The CPC also promised to better supervise administrative law-enforcement activities, regulate the discretionary power of law-enforcement bodies and ensure fair and civilized law enforcement.
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CPC orders crackdown on Internet crimes
The Communist Party of China (CPC) has reiterated its resolve to strengthen public opinion guidance and crack down on Internet crimes in a key decision publicized on Friday.
China will improve the mechanism set for preventing and cracking down on crimes related to the Internet and better handle emergencies in cyberspace in order to form an online public opinion that is positively guided and administrated in accordance with the law, according to the full text of the decision issued by the CPC.
The decision was approved at the Third Plenary Session of the 18th CPC Central Committee that closed on Tuesday.
While actively popularizing the Internet, China will reinforce its overall administration over cyberspace in accordance with the law and accelerate formation of a sound Internet management system to ensure national Internet and information security, the decision said.
The nation will also institutionalize releases of news and raise the occupational standards for practising as a qualified journalist, it said.
The decision also called for an integration of traditional and new media and orderly news communication.
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China eases burden on ecologically fragile areas
China's central authorities have decided not to press local governments located in ecologically fragile areas to pursue economic growth regardless of environment deterioration.
A key reform roadmap released by the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee on Friday said governments of some ecologically fragile and poverty-stricken areas will be free from assessment of their economic performance.
China's central government traditionally assesses the performance of local authorities mainly through economic indices like gross domestic product (GDP).
Some local governments have sacrifices the local environment for better GDP figures, with weak supervision of polluters and less spending on environmental protection.
China will also register the ownership of rivers, forest, mountains, grassland, desert and beaches and put them under clear and effective supervision, said the CPC Central Committee's decision on issues concerning comprehensively deepening reforms, adopted by the Third Plenary Session of the 18th CPC Central Committee on Tuesday.
The country will try to make a balance sheet of natural resources with its own administrative division and officials audited on their performance when they leave the office, according to the decision.
China's environment authority will tighten up monitoring of all pollutants and tighten supervision.