China’s goal of achieving “Xiao Kang” — or “moderately prosperous society” by 2020 aims to make sure that the remaining families still in poverty also step into the well-off society together with the rest of the nation. The author argues that outside world tends to look at China as if it is another traditional power and thus loses sight of what is really going on inside China. With poverty alleviation a continuing top priority, the uppermost imperative is for China to have a stable external environment so that it can attend to its own monumental challenges.

As the labor supply declines and labor cost increases, China must strengthen the supply front to really create new supply and efficiency dividends through reform. Reform on the supply front requires the improvement of capital-formation efficiency for the next five years.

The International Monetary Fund’s recent decision to add the Chinese renminbi to the basket of currencies that determine the value of its reserve asset, the Special Drawing Right, has captured headlines around the world. But the SDR itself has not exactly dominated discussions – much less transactions – since its creation in 1969. So does the decision really matter?

Since the 1990’s, Sam Pa subsequently amassed a huge fortune by helping shady African autocrats sell their petroleum and minerals to China. Sam Pa was most of all a source of “rents” for several dozen corrupt politicians and officials in the resource-rich areas of Africa. However, Sam Pa’s arrest last month has put an end to his corruption.

Fluctuations in China’s currency and economy don’t have the wild effect on the global markets that many critics allege, and such accusations distract from a needed collective focus on maintaining stability.

Minxin Pei recognizes some brutal consequences of the one-child policy, and implores for outsiders and Chinese alike to emphasize the senseless cruelty that such measures imply and work to ensure that they are never seen again.

Corruption, however, while a persistent illness with a debilitating and self-generating momentum, is not exclusive to China. If truth be told, China’s largesse abroad is also a major source of corruption and fraud, especially when it involves government-to-government transactions where transparency and accountability are absent.

The expansion of the Chinese economy and the resulting improvements in the lives of Chinese people have been impressive outcomes of the just-ending Five-Year Plan, despite the recent slowdown in the economy. The blueprint for (2016-2020) is taking shape to build on that progress.

China’s recently announced cap-and-trade system to limit emissions is a positive development, but not new. China’s emissions trading system (ETS) has seen some capping, and very little trading. Additional challenges lie ahead in the pricing of carbon and introduction of unified measurement, reporting, and verification systems.

High-profile arrests like those carried out in China in recent years are insufficient to curb corruption in a lasting manner. Reducing pervasive government intervention in the economy and encouraging greater competition would reduce the near-monopolistic rents that create the incentives for corruption in the first place.