[photo/sina.com]

Despite all the vows of commitment to the course of reform, the impending 20th anniversary of Deng Xiaoping's speeches on the need for bolder reforms, which he made during a tour of southern China, is increasingly reminiscent of the state of confusion that prompted the venerated architect of "socialism with Chinese characteristics" to exert his personal influence and dismantle the last ideological barricades facing reformers at the time.

But consensus building appears a more daunting task than ever before, as the barriers are vested interests rather than ideology.

Two decades back, when both the country and the people were preoccupied with lifting themselves out of poverty, there was little opposition to Deng's tantalizing rallying call for people to get rich.

Now there are worries that the foremost beneficiaries of reform and opening-up - those who did indeed become rich - are those standing firmly in way of further reforms.

There is still abundant potential for growth in the foreseeable years. But the way that the fruits of that growth are distributed is brewing fierce calls for another round of reforms with a focus on equity and fairness.

That is why there are concerns about crony capitalism or what is known as the transition trap - where a society loses direction and gets bogged down in the mire of vested interests.

Plenty needs to be done for the country to escape the curse of the "middle-income trap" but a more imperative task is to escape the transition trap and to promote fairness in policy-making.

Fairness was not a concern when the country was starting from scratch. Now, even without an official Gini coefficient, everybody - with the exception of the ultra-rich - is fuming over inequity.

The wealth gap is there, and widening. But this should not be an excuse for resisting further reform. Instead, the less-than-satisfactory status quo is a reason for broader and deeper reforms.

Deng's ultimate aim of realizing "common prosperity" should not remain a secondary concern on policy agendas.

The most positive message along those lines has been President Hu Jintao's remarks on "inclusive growth", a fair-minded proposal for the rewards of reforms to benefit all members of society. Yet the existing distribution regime is obviously incapable of this and further reform is being held hostage by powerful vested interests, which has also caused reforms in many fields to stagnate.

When commemorating Deng's reformist will, we should not ask whether we should continue with reform, but instead ask, how we can press ahead to ensure inclusive growth.

Related

• Deng Xiaoping theory
• Deng Xiaoping's South China tour (Jan. 1992)

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