76-year old Hu Deping, son of the late popular CCP CC General Secretary Hu Yaobang and former member of the CPPCC till 2013, spoke at a seminar in Beijing on January 16, hosted by the Hongfan Institute of Legal and Economic Studies mark the 40th anniversary of China’s reform and opening upto and attended by former economic and policy advisers and academics.  Scheduled to speak on the private sector and reform, Hu Deping warned the leadership to learn from the mistakes of the former Soviet Union amid the current confrontation between China and the US.  He said “The history of the 20th century proved that capitalist countries successfully boosted their economic growth by relying on technological advancement and improved efficiency instead of an investment-driven growth model. On the contrary, the Soviet Union went down a road that led to a dead end. Another [mistake] was their rigid economic system. By the same token, not all socialist countries must practise a planned economy.” Hu Deping warned that China must not backtrack on the reform process: “We must fully understand the direction and specific targets of our reforms, and never walk backwards." He did not give a list of the critical reforms he had in mind, but said China should “actively explore political reforms.”  Expressing regret for the poor economic condition of the people of Russia, whose GDP was lower than that of Guangdong province, he said “We must learn the lessons from the Soviet Union and press on firmly with our [reforms] to the end.”

(Comment: Hu Deping's is another criticism of the economic policies followed by Xi Jinping.)