Zhou Tianyong, 50, is the most senior figure within the Communist Party charged with thinking about democracy and a key adviser for the country's senior leaders. The deadline of 2020 that he gave for China's transition to a version of democracy in his interview with the Daily Telegraph already has great significance. President Hu Jintao has promised "more extensive democratic rights" by 2020, without being more specific, and this is also the year when China's booming economcy should deliver per capita GNP of $3,000, ushering in "moderate prosperity for all".
A plan produced by Mr Zhou in February, entitled "Storming the Fortress", suggested that China could face social and economic instability if the Communist Party did not curb its power and acknowledge a desire for democracy. "Citizens' steadily rising democratic consciousness and the grave corruption in the Party make it increasingly urgent to press ahead with demands for political system reform. The backwardness of the political system is affecting economic development," wrote Mr Zhou.
Rana Mitter, a professor of the politics of Modern China at Oxford University, said: "2020 seems to be a bit of a turning point at the moment. It seems to be the deadline for a lot of things, including the arrival of 'moderate prosperity' for all. It also depends on how you define democracy. We all understand democracy as a multi-party system, but in China there has been a definition of democracy since Mao's time as popular participation, but not necessarily with the right to change the government."
"Storming the Fortress" was placed under wraps after the government's hardline response to the riots which swept Tibet in March. Several powerful hard-liners within the politburo, such as Wang Lequan, the governor of Xinjiang province, are openly opposed to any loosening of the Party's iron-clad control. In June, Zhou Yongkang, the head of China's security, said the police, army and courts would all deal with the enemies of the Communist Party, guarantee the government's rule and "implement the people's democratic dictatorship".
The re-emergence of Mr Zhou into the public arena appears to demonstrate the desire of the Party to re-start possible reform. As a senior Communist official, he shied away from calling for the dismantling of the Party's monopoly on power, or for the direct election of China's leaders. But he did suggest that China's tiny grassroots movements could play a larger role in the future.
There are eight political parties in China which could form the seeds of a future multi-party system. They were mostly founded during or just after the Second World War and have all pledged their support to the government. The largest party, the China Democratic League, boasts around 150,000 "higher and mid-level intellectuals" as members.
At present, the parties advise the government through the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, a largely symbolic body. Mr Zhou said this structure could be "optimised" in future to give the other parties a greater role.
Many Chinese commentators favour a "guided democracy", similar to the model in Singapore, where ostensibly free elections have always resulted in victories for the ruling People's Action Party. In 2002, Jiang Zemin, the former president, vowed that while China would push ahead with grassroots changes, it would "never copy any models of the political system of the West".
In August, Zhou Ruijin, the former deputy editor of the People's Daily, the mouthpiece of the Party, gave a briefing to academics, officials and businessmen in Guangzhou in which he also called for China's alternative political parties to be strengthened.
He said the Communist Party should move from being "the leading party" to being "the administrative party" and there should be multi-candidate elections within the Party for government positions. Asked if the government actually had any intention of relinquishing power, Mr Zhou said: "Don't underestimate how far the Party has come. The Party still has effective leadership and is committed to further reform."
