Beijing (AsiaNews/SCMP) – The Communist Party should run the country in accordance with the rule of law, instead of substituting itself for it, China's chief justice said.

In an article published by Qiushi magazine, the President of the Supreme People's Court Xiao Yang said it was important that the party acted "under—and not above—the constitution and laws".

Mr Xiao stressed the need to create an institutional structure that would control the activities of the Communist Party's within governmental institutions.

Mr Xiao did however acknowledge that any democratic reforms faced many challenges. For one, the vague and "unscientific" design of the judicial system made it hard to free it from the influence and constraints of exterior factors and local authorities' interests. "Judicial activities," he explained, "are often subject to interference . . . and a lack of professionalism is a common problem in the judiciary."

Beijing University legal scholar Jiang Mingan noted that the Communist Party must accept the rule of law; otherwise, its ruling position will be further threatened and weakened by "increasing dissatisfaction among the people over rampant corruption," he said.

"A main reason for widespread official corruption and popular dissatisfaction is that the party leadership is not subject to the supervision of the law and the people," he stressed.

Ever since the Communist Party came to power, executive, legislative and judicial powers have in fact been under the sole control of the party leadership.

A chance for change came when former Party General-Secretary Zhao Ziyang proposed that government and party posts be separated only to see his plan turned down as being "bourgeois" and "western".

For some analysts, market-oriented economic reforms have educated the public about the importance of the rule of law and made the leadership realise the urgency of consolidating its governance by introducing a more democratic system if it did not want to lose popular support.

For years, China has been grappling with the need to reform its legal system and legal codes which still do not cover some sectors.