With the Central Economic Work Conference just concluded, the important task facing the 2014 Chinese economy seems to be twofold: balancing China's medium and long-term reform with its short-term growth, and balancing its structural adjustment with control and prevention of possible risks, writes Zhang Monan.

At the recent Third Plenum of the Chinese Communist Party's Central Committee, China's leaders produced a 60-point "resolution" covering six areas. But a shopping list of reform objectives – many of which were not as bold or novel as promised – is inadequate to address the deep contradictions undermining China’s development.

China's latest round of reforms arrives at a critical moment in the debate about the renminbi’s internationalization. Should the renminbi join the US dollar and the euro as an international vehicle currency, and can Shanghai subsequently become a first-tier international financial center?

Before China’s leadership transition earlier this year, experts said that the Chinese Communist Party was intent on preventing a larger-than-life personality from assuming power. However, a year has passed, the new-style leadership, a form of managed charisma, seems collectively designed to serve national needs, writes William H. Overholt.

With the advent of the Chinese dream at the 18th CPC Congress, many international relations experts have attempted to compare the Chinese and the American dream. But now, Ma Jilali focuses on the Indian dream and how each nation’s respective dream could boost cooperation between the countries.

The success of the Third Plenum’s recently announced economic reforms rely heavily on the outcome of China’s financial sector reforms. Important topics to monitor, writes Yi Xianrong, include interest rate liberalization, stock market regulation, changes to the exchange rate regime, and the risk that these reforms entail.

In the United States, proposed budget deals may ensure stability in the short-term. In China, the ongoing economic reforms could foster sustained growth in the medium-term. In both cases, new challenges await after 2015.

Following the whirlwind tour of high-level interactions between the United States and China, Qian Liwei examines the synergistic relationship between the two countries and lays out steps for a future built on cooperation.

Renowned business commentators Shi Mingshen and Li Zhenyu weigh in on the biggest bright spot of China's economic reform pledges and its significant, wide-ranging implications.

China’s recent decision to eliminate the process of reeducation-through-labor will not be an easy process but demonstrates the government’s dedication to form a system of consistent legal mechanisms. The arrangement, which has existed since the 1950s faced issues of inconsistent legislation and execution along with the opportunity for political leverage.