With the recent removal of interest rate ceilings for foreign currency deposits in Shanghai banks, the first reform piloted in the Shanghai free trade zone has been expanded outside the zone.

The relaxation, targeting foreign currency deposits of less than three million U.S. dollars, marks an important step forward for the marketization of foreign currency interest rates in the country.

The China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone (Shanghai FTZ) was inaugurated last September under China's new leadership, who took the helm in November 2012. The "test field" for the country's new reform has adopted new policies and explored new ways in opening up.

The Shanghai FTZ is far from the only initiative of its kind in China right now. In the first half of this year, both the central and local governments have initiated "deepwater-area" reforms in various sectors.

Their progress has smashed overseas suspicion that China's new reforms might not be implemented as promised.

November's landmark third plenary session of the 18th Communist Party of China Central Committee drew a blueprint for deepening reforms. It involves economic, political, cultural, social and environmental systems as well as Party building in some 330 important reform items.

Vivid descriptions such as "deepwater area" and "gnawing at hard bones" indicate the unprecedented heavy tasks of reforms, observers say.

President Xi Jinping has said that reform and opening up is the key to realizing the dream of national rejuvenation.

Xi has presided over three meetings of the central leading group for overall reform this year, stressing time and again the importance and urgency of "implementation."

In the third meeting of the group in early June, he said reform should be better targeted at concrete issues, prominent problems and conflicts. "The success of reform will be decided by whether our goal is reached and the success of our blueprint will be in its implementation," according to the president.

The Chinese leadership has a profound understanding of domestic and global economies and the reforms will bring far-reaching benefit to China and the world, said World Bank President Jim Yong Kim.

STREAMLINING ADMINISTRATION

An administrative overhaul is among the most outstanding agendas of the reforms. In March, the State Council, or China's Cabinet, vowed to abolish or delegate another 200 administrative approvals to governments at lower levels, following the 416 last year, and published a list of 1,235 administrative approval items under 60 central government departments.

The government's "self-reform" is also under way at provincial or municipal levels. The developed, eastern province of Zhejiang last week published a list of administration items, cutting them down from 12,300 to about 4,200 items. Other provinces or municipalities, including Guangdong, Tianjin, Shanghai and Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, have published similar lists.

"In terms of administration reforms, strong efforts have been made at the central level and remarkable progress has also been achieved at the local level," said Xu Yaotong, professor of political science with the Chinese Academy of Governance.

Some moves have "touched sore spots and vitals, boosted market vitality and released reform bonus," said the academic.

Indeed, the reforms have pushed the development of small enterprises. From March to May, the country's registered new market entities reached 3.2 million, an increase of 25.8 percent year on year, with the total registered capital doubling to hit 5.32 trillion yuan, show statistics from the National Development and Reform Commission, the country's top economic planner.
VITALITY BOOSTED

Beijing has announced a series of policies to attract private capital into construction of urban infrastructure, culture and elders care.

Private companies are already feeling the change.

"Sound Group has sewage and solid waste treatment projects in many domestic cities, but has had very few in Beijing," said Wang Kai, chief finance officer of Sound Global, a subsidiary of private water treatment company Sound Group.

Since late last year, Sound Group has made bids of four water treatment projects in Beijing and won one tender. "Such progress is unprecedented," said Wang.

Zhao Hong, vice president of the Beijing Academy of Social Sciences, said Beijing's measures have contributed to building a fair, transparent market.

State-owned enterprises (SOE) and assets management are one of important reform targets. Shanghai, Tianjin, Anhui, Guizhou, Hubei, Chongqing and Sichuan provinces or municipalities have unveiled their SOE reform guidelines.

By the end of 2017, 90 percent of state-owned capital will focus on key industries and mixed-ownership SOEs will occupy a large proportion according to the Tianjin plan. Southwestern Chongqing plans to change two-thirds of SOEs into mixed-ownership ones in the next three to five years.

GROWTH QUALITY

In line with the country's efforts to transform the economic growth model, April saw eastern Shandong Province unveil a revised scheme for evaluating the quality of development for 17 cities.

The scheme follows a 100-point framework. The number of points dedicated to gross domestic product growth has been slashed from 60 in 2012 to 25 now, while new items such as PM2.5 density and reduction of excessive capacities have been added.

The change from the previous GDP-oriented evaluation system to a comprehensive and scientific one with multiple indexes, shows the government's change of outlook on development and its determination to further reforms, according to Xu.
OTHER REFORMS

Reforms are being advanced in others sectors, including culture, the environment, energy, consumption, investment, Party building and national defense.

The country has selected Guangdong, Shanghai, Jilin, Hubei, Hainan and Qinghai as pilot provinces for judicial reforms, which draw great public attention.

Reform of the household registration system, or hukou, will also be accelerated.

But the progress of reforms differs among provinces and sectors. In carrying out the order to streamline administration, some authorities have sneakily delegated inessential power but retained major decision-making control, said Xu.

To ensure reforms are put into practice, the State Council dispatched eight inspection teams last Wednesday to check the implementation of its policies nationwide, in a process which will last 10 days through to July 5.

Resistance is expected in the coordination and implementation of local governments and departments, noted Zhao Zhenhua, an economist at the Party School of the CPC Central Committee.

The key is to build up consensus and properly tackle the relationships between short-term and long-term, partial and holistic interests as well as national and international levels, to serve the country's overall reform and development, said Zhao.

(BEIJING, June 30 (Xinhua) --by Xinhua writers Li Laifang and Cheng Yunjie,  Xinhua correspondents Lyu Dong and Guan Guifeng have contributed to the story)