China in the era of ‘Top-level design’: hard steering by the central commission for comprehensively deepening reform (CCCDR) in National policymaking

This article reviews the history and working mode of the Central Commission for Comprehensively Deepening Reform (CCCDR) to shed light on the underpinnings of ‘top-level design’ in China’s policy process. We demonstrate the paradoxical nature of the CCCDR’s ‘hard steering’: on the one hand, agenda-setting and the creation of major reform policies has been centralized and highly formalized; on the other hand, local circumstances are not adequately taken into account, resulting in low resource-efficiency in policy implementation. This article makes an important contribution to our understanding of the Chinese policy process under conditions of ‘top-level design’. By showing how political steering is conducted at the central level and by drawing on a case study, we also critically assess the CCP’s governing capacity in the Xi Jinping era.