Historic gains in the Shanghai and Shenzhen A-share stock markets are causing some Western analysts to speculate that the growth is being driven by irrational behavior. There are both institutional and individual explanations for this over-confidence, which will need to monitored if the market contracts.

Do the meritocratic features of the China model produce more competent leaders than democratic elections in America? In key ways, this seems certainly true.

Modernizing state governance in China depends on the successful promotion of rule of law, to stimulate orderly participation of the public and to maximize the public interest.

Substantial international attention has been focused on this year’s meeting of China’s National People’s Congress (NPC) and the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Committee (CPPCC), much of it misguided and/or malicious. But there is a real reason for the Congress’s importance.

Casual observers of the proceedings of the annual National People’s Congress (NPC) may be tempted to dismiss them as a ritualistic exercise with little impact on the lives of the Chinese people. Such a conclusion, while not totally groundless, nevertheless misses an important public policy debate revealed during this year’s NPC session – reforming China’s troubled retirement system. The challenge confronting Beijing is simply the lack of money to fund the explosive growth of pension benefits.

In Western media, the National People's Congress -- China's legislative body which just ended its annual three week session -- is perfunctorily conjoined with the phrase "rubber stamp." This characterization is less and less true every year and does a disservice to understanding the most significant historic shift taking place in China today: the long march toward "rule according to law" from administrative fiat.

Discussion of whether or not China will lead the world through a “third industrial revolution” ignores the China’s excess supply of low quality products, polluted air and water, and an information sector that isn’t completely integrated with manufacturing. China still has a ways to go in industrializing while facing changing international circumstances.

Xi Jinping: The Governance of China, is the Chinese leader’s book on proper leadership in China, with a heavy focus on ousting corruption, a direct threat to the legitimacy of the party. While the party cracks down, it also has made it more difficulty for anonymous web users to expose party privilege abuse on micro-blogs, begging the question of whether this book favors slogan over good governance.

The anti-corruption drive -- the longest and most systematic in Chinese history -- is changing the way public officials do business. Any sensible official will now think twice before accepting a bribe.