Opinion | To spur real change, China must unleash the power of its 'reform advocates'

As the reform of China's economy and society deepens, attention is turning to the people tasked with the job of spearheading and carrying out change. Thus it was gratifying to hear the call by President Xi Jinping , made at the 12th meeting of the central leading group on reform, to mobilise China's "reform advocates", who must "think reform, plot reform and improve reform".

The call reflects the leadership's resolve to rise to the challenge. Over the past two years, the 18th Central Committee has launched separate road maps to spur reforms and strengthen the rule of law. But, despite the clear goals and timetable, implementation of the proposed changes has not been smooth.

In many cases, reform remains stalled by a lack of coordination, resistance by interest groups, fossilised thinking inherited from the centrally planned economy of old, and bureaucratic red tape.

Lacking commitment, many officials remain on the sidelines. The sad truth is, too many of those tasked with leading the change are unmotivated themselves and do not fully understand the work involved.

For the reforms to break through this resistance, we need committed and daring reform advocates. As the leadership puts it, China must find, deploy and motivate officials to take up the role of pushing for reform. These officers must be willing to step up and work hard.

Getting the right person for the job is important, as the 30-plus years of Chinese reform experience shows. Since the early days of reform, batch after batch of good and capable reformers have taken the lead to forge change, even in the face of serious challenges.

As Deng Xiaoping urged in 1989, the government must put people in charge who are "capable and widely believed by the people to be committed to reform and opening up". "We must dare to put these people at the helm, so that the wider public can see that the government is sincere in its efforts to reform and open up," he said.