Transformation city

Gu Haibing, professor of Economics at Renmin University of China, told the Global Times Monday that Shenzhen should now transform from an economic powerhouse to a place that could show the country how to do political reform.

"Politics is the premise of the economy. In China's special social and political structure, we are now seeing the reemergence of a centralized economic interest and its redistribution. The root cause, from my perspective, is the political system, which is now in need of change," Gu said.

"However, in the road to reform, Shenzhen has a long way to go. The policy makers and implementers should take responsibility," he said.

Gu added that the State-owned companies have owned a lot of resources that private companies do not have, and the some institutions are cumbersome and blindly interfering in every sphere of the society.

He said cuts could help pave the way for the redistribution of power.

Feng, however, said great changes in the administrative system may be unrealistic.

"The process is complicated and it's natural that reforming the system takes a long time. We are not afraid of being slow, as long as it moves forward," he said.

He said Shenzhen needs to tackle a series of problems including the negative effects caused from urbanization such as traffic jams, and reducing the risk to the environment caused by economic development.

He said every citizen should be involved in the process.

"I never doubted the government's execution force, yet the key problem lies not only in lawmaking, but its enforcement and supervision, it's multi-dimensional," he said.