China stands at a crucial juncture as it looks to advance its rule of law, an important aspect of new reforms which will be discussed later this week at the Third Plenary Session of the 18th Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee.

According to analysts, the success of reform can be measured by democratic progress and a well-developed rule of law.

Like the importance of the Third Plenary Session of the 11th CPC Central Committee in 1978, which opened the country's door to the outside world, the public expects the upcoming session from Nov. 9 to 12 to further carry out reforms.

Li Lin, a law professor with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said, "The rule of law is not only an important part of reform, it is also a condition of it."

Since the beginning of the year, a series of legal cases have grabbed attention both home and abroad.

On Oct. 25, a court in Jinan city, Shandong province rejected Bo Xilai's appeal and upheld his original sentence of life imprisonment for bribery, embezzlement and abuse of power.

Bo, former secretary of the Chongqing Municipal Committee of the CPC and former member of the Political Bureau of the Party's Central Committee, was sentenced to life imprisonment on Sept. 22.

The court's panel heard opinions of Bo and his lawyers, verified all evidences, examined the facts confirmed during the first trial and legal applications to fully safeguard the litigation rights of Bo and his defense lawyers.

Other high-profile cases include corruption involving several senior local officials and the case of an explosion at a Beijing airport. Moreover, wrongful convictions have been rectified. Two men, both surnamed Zhang, had their convictions for rape overturned by a court in east China's Zhejiang Province in March.

Media reports said cases have come under the public spotlight because legal awareness among Chinese society has increased significantly.

However, Ma Huaide, vice president of China University of Political Science and Law, said, "Although these miscarriages of justice were redressed, they exposed the problem that laws are not justly enforced in some places. It makes the case that it is hugely pressing and important to advance democracy and the rule of law."

In fact, the CPC has made great efforts to promote the rule of law.

In 1997 and 1999 respectively, "governing the country according to law and build a socialist country under the rule of law" had been laid down in the party resolution and the state constitution. By the end of 2010, China announced it had established a socialist code of laws with Chinese characteristics.

Along with economic growth, legal awareness among the Chinese public has grown at the same time and people demand better protection of their rights, raising the bar for lawmakers and law enforcement.

In February, the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, held a group study on the rule of law. At the session, Xi Jinping, general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, stressed CPC organizations at all levels should act in accordance with the constitution and laws.

The analysts say the new round of reforms will keep to the socialist path of making political advancement with Chinese characteristics, which means China will continue to improve the system of peoples' congresses, uphold the rule of law and safeguard the authority of the constitution and laws.

At the same time, China has said it will not copy Western-style political systems, ruling out, among other things, employing a system of multiple parties holding office in rotation, splitting powers among the executive, legislative and judicial branches of government, or dividing the parliament into upper and lower houses.

Further instilling the rule-of-law mind set in officials will be another important part of the reforms, the analysts believe, for the rule of law is impossible without law-biding and law-fearing officials.

Since the 18th CPC National Congress in late 2012, the Party has demonstrated its anti-graft drive by striking down on corrupt high-ranking officials including Jiang Jiemin, former head of the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission and Liu Tienan, former vice director of the National Development and Reform Commission.

Li Lin, the law professor, said institutional changes and restrictions of power should be included in the reforms, which will help create a law-learning and -abiding society.

Professor Zou Rong with East China University of Political Science and Law said government transparency is also essential.

"It is critical to making institutional changes to abandon the rule of man and start revering the rule of law," Zou said.

The analysts believe China has accumulated considerable experience in pushing forward democracy and the rule of law in its 35 years of reform and opening up. Meanwhile, Chinese society is maturing in this regard. Both, they say, will guarantee the country's further reform and opening up. Endit