Li Keqiang, China’s new premier, made clear at his first official news conference that he is committed to the cause of reform. He mentioned the word 28 times as he laid out his vision of smaller government, a tougher stance on corruption and a fairer distribution of wealth. 中国新总理李克强在他的首次正式记者会上表明，他致力于改革事业。他阐述了自己的愿景：缩小政府规模、加大反腐力度，以及更加公平地分配财富，在整个记者会上28次使用“改革”这个词。
That Mr Li is a reformer is hardly remarkable. In the 35 years since Deng Xiaoping launched China’s “reform and opening up” strategy and left Maoism behind, Chinese leaders have pushed for economic, social and even political reforms. 李克强是改革者这一点并不值得大书特书。在邓小平启动中国“改革开放”战略、告别毛主义以来的35年里，中国历届领导人都曾推动经济、社会甚至政治改革。
The key question is not whether a Chinese leader is a reformer – but rather what kind of reformer he or she is. 关键问题并不是某一名中国领导人是不是改革者，而是他或她是哪一种改革者。
The contrast between Mr Li’s programme and that of Wen Jiabao, his predecessor, is illuminating. Mr Li’s agenda, which he outlined at the end of China’s annual parliament on Sunday, is more limited and more singular in its focus on economics. It also appears to be more concrete and therefore more achievable. 从议程看，李克强与前任温家宝之间的反差就很明显。李克强在周日中国全国人大会议闭幕时阐述的议程，范围更加有限，也更聚焦于经济领域。同时他的议程似乎更加具体，因而更可实现。
In his final years as premier, Mr Wen spoke of the urgency of transforming the Chinese political system. Although he never described in detail what changes were needed, his calls for fundamental reform to the leadership structure were seen as a thinly-veiled push for more democratic ways of selecting officials. 温家宝在任内的最后几年里一再谈到转变中国政治体制的紧迫性。虽然他从未详尽描述需要哪些变革，但他对根本改革领导制度的呼吁，被视为几乎不加掩饰地推动采用更民主的方式遴选官员。
Mr Li made no direct mention of political overhaul. Instead, he emphasised one of his favourite themes: that China’s economy can reap a growth “dividend” from enacting deeper market reforms. 李克强没有直接提到政治改革，相反，他强调了自己最爱谈的主题之一：推进更深层次的市场化改革，可让中国经济获得增长“红利”。
“There is great space for further unleashing productivity through reform and there is great potential to make sure the benefits of reforms will reach the entire population,” he said. “靠改革进一步解放生产力还有巨大的潜力，让改革的红利惠及全体人民还有巨大的空间，”他表示。
On the surface it was a more conservative message than Mr Wen’s appeal at the close of China’s annual parliament exactly one year ago. Without political structural reforms, Mr Wen said at the time, China’s recent economic gains might slip away. 从表面上看，这个信息比一年前温家宝在全国人大年度会议结束时发出的呼吁更为保守。当时温家宝表示，没有政治体制改革，中国可能丧失近年取得的经济改革成果。
Mr Wen never succeeded in bringing about political change. Some of his more strident speeches about the need for a new politics were even censored by state media. 温家宝在推动政治改革方面从未成功。他发表的有关政改必要性的一些比较尖锐的言论，甚至遭到官方媒体的审查。
If Mr Li is setting the bar lower, he is also being more realistic, says Yang Dali, faculty director of the University of Chicago Center in Beijing. 美国芝加哥大学北京中心(University of Chicago Center in Beijing)主任杨大利表示，如果说李克强把标杆设置得更低，那么他也是在采取更为现实的态度。
“There is a recognition that you want to reform but reform can be a very dangerous moment and so you want to lower expectations about political reform,” Mr Yang says. “Mr Li’s focus is very much within the parameters of the economy and society.” “大家意识到你想要改革，但是改革可能是一个非常危险的时刻，因此你希望降低人们对于政治改革的期盼，”杨大利表示。“李克强的焦点基本上落在经济和社会的范畴内。”
Mr Li made a series of reform proposals that came with measurable benchmarks for assessing his success. 李克强提出了一系列改革设想，并一一阐明用于评估成功的可衡量基准。
In the legal arena, while making a vague commitment that the law must rank above all people, he made a specific pledge to announce a reform programme for the country’s controversial labour camp detention system by the end of this year. 在法律领域，除了提出任何人都不能超越法律的权限的含糊承诺外，他还作出一个具体承诺，即最迟在今年底出台一个针对中国有争议的劳教制度的改革方案。
Addressing complaints that the government has become too powerful, he vowed to cut by one-third the number of things that require cabinet approval. He also promised to lower the civil service payroll and said that official budgets for travel and vehicles would be cut. 针对政府管得太多的抱怨，他誓言将国务院各部门行政审批事项再削减三分之一。他还承诺，财政供养的人员只减不增;公费接待、公费出国、公费购车只减不增。
