China Reform Report 2019

Shenzhen Innovation and Development Institute (SZIDI) released the China Reform Report 2019 in May 2020. Entitled National Governance and Risk Prevention, this year’s report evaluates eleven major aspects of the reform in 2019, covers major events and offers vital insight into the advantages and disadvantages of China’s governance system in fighting against the Covid-19 pandemic.

The year 2019 saw a number of risks and challenges in China. A series of black swan and gray rhino events happened, ranging from the US-China trade war to the public health and socio-economic crisis resulting from the Covid-19 virus. Not only did these events greatly impair China’s reform and opening-up, economic development and people’s health, but they also compelled the government to shift from the comprehensively deepening reform strategy to risk prevention strategy, which had significant and long-term impacts on China’s reform and governance system. In conclusion, the general report briefly analyzes the causes and impacts of the major events in 2019, then evaluates the reforms that Chinese government carried out to prevent risks. While affirming the achievements of some measures taken to ensure economic stability, the general report highlights the negative impacts that brought by some certain reform strategies to national governance.