Chinese leadership was aware of the problems China was facing. They began to adjust policies by writing various laws and regulations for enterprises. The state-owned enterprises that implemented better social responsibilities became stronger and stronger in recent years.

Now it is proposed to change the growth mode into a pattern of high technology and new energy.

China is already the largest solar energy production country in the world. Its wind power capacity is the second in the world, and more investment is planned in other renewable energy to improve the environment and reduce emissions.

During the next five years, the government and the whole country will focus on narrowing the gap between the rich and poor, providing social security for a much larger number of people and producing in a greener way.

All these changes are the result of strong political will, with the efforts from not only the Communist Party but many other parties.

Many people think political reform just means having "different parties" and "one person one vote." But political reform has much wider meaning, and democracy does not simply mean "one person one vote." Nobel laureate and economist Ostra Elinor said that democracy means people sitting together to discuss and share information to find the best solution for all.

Third, China is implementing the democratic process in many ways: from the village election to ever open public debate, and from appointing more young leaders and officials to strengthening anti-corruption campaigns. But it is still not perfect because sometimes people still make decisions in an undemocratic way.

If all the organizations, enterprises and government institutions follow the democratic decision-making process and give people the time and the right to debate, the whole society will be raised to a democratic atmosphere. People will feel happier than just being told what to do next because they know the decision process and can understand it better.

Overall, development takes time. From the beginning of reform and opening up, it took more than 20 years for all the Chinese people to realize that to get rich is glorious and people should work hard to earn their living. It will also take many years to transform the economic growth pattern and to further improve China's political system to solve various problems.

China has developed very fast in many aspects, but it is still at the developing stage. Rome is not built in one day. Gradual political and economic reform is more suitable for China than any abrupt changes.

The author is a freelance journalist who focuses on sustainable development. She can be reached at chenxuefei7@hotmail.com. The views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of the China Daily Website.