Chapter Nine. Political Transparency: Fostering Democracy And Trust

China's development over the past three decades has been a process of gradually moving towards transparency. This development has taken place in the context of the reform and opening up policies. These policies have facilitated China's integration into the international community and helped China to absorb valuable elements from the outside world. Political transparency is a useful mechanism for promoting democracy and increasing public trust in the political process. As a socialist country, China practices people's democracy, which is based on the principle of people's sovereignty. Political transparency is an important component of legitimacy in China's political system. Many improvements still need to be made to the mechanisms and techniques which provide for transparency in China's political system. The existing system of government in China took shape within the context of a planned economy in which the state directly managed and controlled both the economy and society. Keywords: China's political transparency; China's political system; government policies; market economy