Leading group for overall reform convenes meeting

China's leading group for overall reform on Monday convened its 20th meeting, at which Chinese president Xi Jinping called for advancing reforms in all sectors.

The meeting was also attended by Li Keqiang, Liu Yunshan and Zhang Gaoli, members of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and deputy heads of the group.

Xi, head of the group, said a foundation should be built in the first three years of comprehensively deepening reforms, and a "main body frame" of the reform should be established this year.

According to a statement issued after the meeting, attendees called for full assessment of ongoing reforms in all sectors, prioritizing and focusing on key issues to advance reforms.

Reforms of state-owned enterprises, the financial and taxation systems, the science and technology innovation system, the land system, opening up, the cultural and education system, judicial equity, environmental protection, the pension system, and health care are major sectors for overall reforms, the statement said.

A total of seven documents were approved at the meeting, including guidelines to advance government transparency, help civil servants learn and use laws, reform public institutions that have administrative functions, and reform science and technology associations, as well as a regulation to protect and award whistleblowers in duty-related crimes. Endi