President Xi Jinping announced Friday the most sweeping package of economic, social and legal reforms in China in decades, including a relaxation of the country's "one-child" policy and the scrapping of its much-criticized system of labor camps,
The changes rolled back harsh social policies that dated back to communist China's two most eminent leaders, Mao Zedong and Deng Xiaoping, while cementing Xi's hold on the levers of power. It offered the promise of a country driven by market forces, with a stronger rule of law, but still firmly under the grip of the Communist Party.
"This is the most market-oriented and the most comprehensive package of reforms in two decades," said Cheng Li of the Brookings Institution in Washington. He emphasized the "concrete efforts to promote judicial independence" and abolish a labor camp system that has long been a symbol of arbitrary and politically motivated punishment.