China's November 2013 blueprint for sweeping reform

The seminar dwelled around the recently announced blueprint for sweeping economic, social, and administrative reforms in China.  Dr Xiao Geng, Vice President of Research at the Fung Global Institute (FGI) in Hong Kong delivered his talk through video conferencing. Dr Ramgopal Agarwala, Distinguished Fellow, RIS, who were invited as the discussant  led the deliberations and interactions with the participants from amongst research community, representatives from embassies and eminent experts.

Dr Xiao Geng initiated his talk by referring to the explanation on the plenum. He discussed about stronger role of markets as a decisive force in allocating economic resources, the need to build basic economic institutions as well the need for tax and fiscal reforms. He affirmed that markets and the government are two sides of the same coin as good government can lead to efficient markets.Speaking optimistically about the reforms, the presenter shared research findings in select cities of China.  The success of market forces being in action was illustrated through the case study of Foshan city that had attracted migrant labour as well as capital.

In a discussion following the presentation, Professor Ramgopal Aggarwal opined that the government is part of the solution rather than a problem.  He stated the importance of Indian cities in future years and discussed factors that would help attract labour to the cities. He summarized by highlighting that both China and India should work together.  A wide gap between the two economies could be destabilizing for the Asian region.