The fourth plenary session of the 18th CPC Central Committee, which took the rule of law as its central theme, concluded Thursday. The brief communiqué announced after the plenum ended has excited Chinese society, demonstrating the sincerity and determination of the central government in advancing the rule of law. The document targets the thorny conundrums that have cropped up in the past work of building a law-based society. China has started an all-round campaign to strengthen its legal system. 

The rule of law has been discussed and promoted in China for many years. However, there has long been social discontent over China's efforts to intensify the rule of law. In some places, power was considered to be above the law and the independence of the judicial system was encroached on by the abusers of power and money. 

One of the major loopholes in China's governance system is that it's hard to make anyone accountable for non-binding decision-making.

There are some large-scale infrastructure programs which failed to carry out their due functions in China, such as the "ghost towns."

Such a terrible waste of public resources is a result of a lack of scientific and democratic procedures, but it's hard to hold officials accountable for their wrong decisions. 

The fourth plenum marks a milestone in advancing the rule of law. The communiqué stipulates that any officials who interfere in judicial cases should be recorded, named publicly and held accountable. This is widely viewed as being a powerful deterrence to officials. The decision to set up a lifelong liability system for major decisions and a retrospective mechanism to hold officials accountable for wrong decisions will also help curb irresponsible decision-making.

The plenum has sent a clear signal that China is making strides in comprehensively advancing the rule of law.

It also has responded to tough questions raised by the West over whether the law or the Party is paramount. The communiqué has given a familiar and clear-cut answer.

The rule of law is a system and the Party makes it work. The Party has the resolution and capacity to advance the process of establishing a socialist country with rule of law.

It will take time for the Party to make its efforts produce the desired results. A package of mechanisms has been set up after the fourth plenum, which will guarantee the country's journey toward the rule of law will progress unimpeded.

We strongly hope that the decision of the fourth plenum will be fully put into practice. It's a part of China's efforts to comprehensively deepen its reforms. According to the communiqué, the focus of the rule of law is governing officials by law. Perhaps it's a new starting point for China's reforms.