Over the past 40 years of reform and opening-up, China transformed itself into a nation promoting economic dynamism, cultural plurality and social harmony. However, hard-won progress could not have been achieved without the reform of governance and institutions. In 2013, the Third Plenary Session of the 18th CPC Central Committee proposed to deepen economic reform with the market playing the "decisive role" in resource allocation — it was a milestone in the history of China's economic transformation.

As China ushers in a new era, what are the areas of marketization that still need to be assessed and improved? CGTN's Robert Lawrence Kuhn discussed these issues with Peng Sen, the chairman of China Society of Economic Reform and former Deputy Chief of the National Development and Reform Commission (2008-2012).

The NDRC is the planner of China's economic and social development and the coordinator of China's economic system.

According to Peng, in order to improve the quality and efficiency of economic growth, China should focus on solving its problems as it proceeds with the supply-side structural reform. China also needs to set targets in building a better-developed and more comprehensive socialist-market economy. Peng suggested that China should prioritize two crucial factors: the property-rights system and the market-based allocation of resources. 

The property-rights system, as the basis of China's socialist market economy, is founded on the ownership system. The market-based allocation of resources generates the market's efficiency. Making these two crucial factors work, and work together, Peng said, is the dilemma that confronts China today. Only by combining these two factors can China establish a stable, highly efficient, socialist-market economy.