Illustration: Liu Rui/GT

The four-day Third Plenary Session of the 18th CPC Central Committee started in Beijing on Saturday. Analysts believe this session will become a springboard for the country's reforms in the next decade.

The session should be analyzed on the basis of the continuity of policymaking in a wider context. This meeting will not repudiate the former policies, on the contrary, it will supply more concrete measures to solidify the principles and policies which were approved in the 18th CPC National Congress.

What's more, we should extend our vision beyond our own borders and put more concentration on the international influence of the reform.

China's domestic political events are making massive impacts on the international community, which can symbolize the growth of China's comprehensive strength. We should consider how to guide this tendency and make it serve national interests.

Compared with other countries, the biggest advantage of China's political system is that it can carry forward its policies in a long-term and continuous manner. China makes use of this advantage and has made great achievements in terms of economic construction and military strength.

This continuity should not be abandoned. That is why this new session will also utilize this advantage and make sure its attempts will not be subversive, although the reforms will probably be more forceful and have wider coverage than before.

China will make necessary adjustments in reforms while maintaining the continuity of its basic political system and policies. As of now and the near future, China will still concentrate its efforts on economic construction, but in the meantime, unprecedented stress will be put on how to distribute growing social wealth more fairly.

Since taking office this March, the new Chinese leadership has been paying close attention to the long-established principle of common wealth and how to narrow the income gap between the rich and the poor.

They have also put forward the twin goals of doubling GDP and per capita income. In the next decade, China will continue making the economic cake bigger, and how to share the cake properly is also a priority.

The Chinese leadership has realized that the growth of the Chinese economy relies on the restructuring of the growth pattern, and this cannot be fulfilled without a fair distribution system.

The major policies approved in this session will be focused on how to deepen and adjust the current reforms.

For example, reform of the income distribution system was put forward by the former leadership. In the previous decade, the focus of the reform was on how to help the low-income groups shake off poverty. In the next decade, it is likely that the focus will be adjusted to middle-income groups.

In the new session, China needs restructuring in terms of economic growth and social development. But what to restructure still remains disputed.

It is important to realize that restructuring should be conducive to the maintenance of China's competitiveness.

In fact, China's rapid development since the reform and opening-up, for one thing, depends on China's willpower, and it is also the result of other competitors' failure in reforms.

If China's former policies were overturned and this continuity cut off, China would probably only follow a disastrous road and this could even result in suicidal consequences. We should avoid such mistakes in this period of social transition.

The author is a research fellow with the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation affiliated to the Ministry of Commerce. opinion@globaltimes.com.cn