Editorial on Reform Comes as a Political Signal Following Chinese Regional Purge

“Creating an optimal habitat for entrepreneurs requires more than just favorable policy.”
Editorial on Reform Comes as a Political Signal Following Chinese Regional Purge
Chinese Chairman Xi Jinping delivers his closing statement for the G20 Summit in Hangzhou on Sept. 5, 2016. Johannes Eisele/AFP/Getty Images
|Updated:

Hu Shuli, the woman who founded the Beijing-based financial and business media group Caixin, recently published an editorial in which she called for the “construction of a new relationship between business and the state.”

The Sept. 18 article, which comes less than a week after the central Chinese authorities sacked over 400 national and provincial lawmakers in Northeast China’s Liaoning province, is a nuanced hint from a media figure with indirect ties to the current Communist Party leadership that new policy is in order.

“Creating an optimal habitat for entrepreneurs requires more than just favorable policy. There needs to be ... a consistent ecology,” Hu wrote. “In particular, this means advancing reforms to the system of government and accelerating the construction of democracy and rule of law.”

Caixin, founded in 2010, is not a state-run mouthpiece, but is widely regarded to be aligned with Wang Qishan, head of the Party’s powerful internal disciplinary agency and one of the seven members of the Politburo Standing Committee that de facto rules China.

Hu Shuli, chief of Caixin, in Beijing on Oct. 25, 2011. Hu is a former associate of Wang Qishan, and her publication Caixin has published investigative reports on Guo Wengui. (Photo by ChinaFotoPress/Getty Images)
Hu Shuli, chief of Caixin, in Beijing on Oct. 25, 2011. Hu is a former associate of Wang Qishan, and her publication Caixin has published investigative reports on Guo Wengui. Photo by ChinaFotoPress/Getty Images
Leo Timm
Leo Timm
Author
Leo Timm is a freelance contributor to The Epoch Times. He covers Chinese politics, society, and current affairs.