Curbing corruption in China

Residents Wukan village in southern China held a symbolic election on 1 February 2012, a small step towards grassroots rights in a center that is now a benchmark of rural defiance against land grabs and corruption that blight villages nationwide. (Photo: AAP)

Author: Michel May, Waseda University

As bright as the future may seem for China, crucial reforms are needed in order to maintain its current rate of economic growth and prevent the Chinese economy from falling over like a house of cards.

Some of the most imminent challenges that China faces in the near future include environmental pollution, income inequality, uneven development between rural and coastal areas, and a risky financial system. The central government has already identified these problems, and reforms are now in place — including those contained within China’s twelfth five-year plan announced in March 2011. Read more…