Zhang Monan on the objectives of the Shanghai free-trade zone.

As the 3rd Plenary of the 18th CPC Central Committee approaches, people have high expectations for financial system reform. The focus will be enhancing the efficiency of resource allocation through finance, and supporting a real economy, writes Zhang Monan.

As China shifts its focus away from low-end labor-intensive manufacturing due to the rising production costs, it is inevitable for Chinese firms to relocate their operations to lesser-cost developing economy destinations, including Africa. Dr. Martyn Davies articulates how China-Africa relationship would change from attracting state capital to more private investment as a result of China’s economic reforms.

While the United States Congress once again tempted fate by approaching the nation’s debt limit, leaders of the international community expressed more concern than their American counterparts as the threat of a default threw financial markets into turmoil.

With 90 days left to bridge the ideological and partisan divide before another crisis erupts, the fuse on America’s debt bomb is getting shorter and shorter. As a dysfunctional US government peers into the abyss, China – America’s largest foreign creditor – has much at stake.

The Third Plenum will be the first major opportunity under China’s new leadership to see how they plan to approach the two major goals of economic and social reform, writes Kerry Brown.

The launch of the Shanghai free trade zone portends much greater growth in the restructuring of China's financial system as a whole, writes Hu Shuli, editor-in-chief of Caixin Media.

The Third Plenary Session of the Communist Party’s 18th National Congress is a pivotal meeting for China’s new leaders, President Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Li Keqiang. As Henry M. Paulson Jr. explains, there are four reasons to be optimistic about China’s potential economic restructuring in November.

Ronald H. Coase, the father of "new institutional economics" who died recently at age 102, will be missed in developing countries like China. His insights into the role of firms, financial institutions, and the state in shaping markets and supporting economic growth will prove crucial as China works to achieve high-income status.

The Shanghai Free Trade Zone is another strategic move in China’s latest round of boosting opening with further reform, writes Zhang Monan.