As the Chinese government prepares to put the disgraced former Politburo Standing Committee member Zhou Yongkang on trial in 2015, the question on the minds of most observers is whether the courtroom proceedings against Zhou will adhere to both Chinese criminal procedures and the well-established legal principle of fairness.

Chinese students now make up 31% of the foreign students on American campuses, a trend that has financially boosted U.S. higher education. However, many Chinese students face structural and social difficulties, and school administrations have proven ineffective in responding. The improvement of Chinese student’s well-being requires increased interaction from all parties.

China’s decision to ban coal-fired power plants in Beijing by 2020 marks a big advance in battling climate change. Stewart Taggard argues that this is the first step in a long march toward wider application of ‘energy by wire.’

A Chinese company has successfully developed a new anti-malarial drug, Artequick, and has begun testing its efficacy in the Comoros, a three-nation island with a long history of the parasite. Early positive results have excited researchers for the new medications’ ability to rid malaria in a host’s body, rather than target mosquitos.

Tom Watkins examines the controversy surrounding China’s Confucius Institutes and provides an inside look at how the academic centers spread awareness of Chinese issues while promoting Chinese soft power abroad, ultimately hoping to increase cross-cultural understanding and dialogue.

To create more sustainable supply chains, change needs to happen in China’s manufacturing industry. Dr. Guo Dong specifically analyzes the educational shifts necessary to build middle-manager environmental leadership and capacity.

Polls indicate Chinese citizens have more trust in the central government than local government, a reverse of the United States, which largely distrusts the federal government. Han-Teng Liao argues that China’s Internet guiding and monitoring might be the beginning of a trust-building mechanism.

The anti-corruption declaration signed by APEC members at the just-concluded Beijing meeting was an important moment, and has been a focus of Wang Qishan, Xi Jinping’s anti-graft front-man. Part of his focus, and a continual challenge the party, is leadership, self-discipline, and the institutionalization of anti-corruption mechanisms.

Whether once separated by physical walls or split by existing political ones, today's leaders in China, the United States and Europe -- including newly elected members of the U.S. Congress -- should also think about how much has been and can be accomplished when walls come down, and engagement flourishes.

The recently concluded CPC plenum will prove to be of far-reaching strategic significance for building a socialist political civilization, developing democratic politics with Chinese characteristics, and realizing the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation, writes Yu Keping.