The South China Morning Post reported (December 31) that Chinese President Xi Jinping had on December 18, summoned a grand gathering to mark the 40th anniversary of Deng Xiaoping’s landmark reform and opening up, which was attended by the most important Communist Party cadres, entrepreneurs and Olympic champions. In his 90-minute speech, Xi Jinping outlined China’s next steps in its reform agenda for the coming decades. Xi Jinping conveyed two clear messages. Firstly, a return to the Cultural Revolution will be resisted. Neither of his two predecessors openly denounced that decade-long trauma as Xi Jinping did, loudly, both as an affair of state and as a matter of personal tragedy for his family. Secondly, China must continue to reform for its own sake. A more pluralistic China would be better prepared to handle the highs and lows of the economic development model the country has chosen. He said Deng’s ethos for reform – “crossing the river by feeling the stones” must be combined with “top-level design”; in other words, the party decides everything. This article was authored by Dr Yu Jie is China Research Fellow of the Asia-Pacific Programme, the Royal Institute of International Affairs, Chatham House.