The central government substituting local governments to pay the salaries and operation costs of local judicial systems is an important step to reduce local government interference, but far from enough to ensure the system’s independence, said an article in the 21st Century Business Herald (excerpts below).

It was absolutely necessary for the Third Plenum of the Communist Party of China’s 18th Central Committee to decide to end local judicial system’s financial reliance on local governments.

But independent justice is different from the absence of local government interference.

The bureaucratic hierarchy within the Chinese judicial system must be reformed. Running the judicial system with professionalism, instead of through government departments, is what really needs to be done to ensure independent justice.

Without this independence, the Chinese government cannot accomplish its market reforms and improve governance ability.