Chinese President to head group leading reforms: Xinhua

The group would steer changes to let markets play decisive role in Chinese economy

China's President Xi Jinping will head a leading group to steer the country's overall reforms, the official Xinhua news agency said on Monday.

At a key party plenum meeting last month, China unwrapped its boldest reforms since Deng Xiaoping set the country on a course of opening up to the world in the 1970s and 1980s.

The Communist Party pledged to let the market play a "decisive" role in the economy and said it would set up the leading group to steer the changes.

The announcement that Xi will take personal charge means the team will be more powerful than the State Commission for Restructuring the Economy, which drew up a reform blueprint that led to the shutdown of thousands of inefficient state-owned firms and the loss of millions of jobs in the 1990s.

The move could also ease market fears that promises of reform may not be matched with action in the face of resistance from vested interests, such as powerful state-owned companies.

There had been speculation that Premier Li Keqiang or Han Zheng, Shanghai's party chief, could head the leading group to plan and coordinate reforms among various state agencies.