China's Economic Model Has Hit A Wall: Are They Serious About Reform Now?

The message from Beijing could not be clearer: China needs to shift to a more balanced economy that is socially and environmentally sustainable.

That was the conclusion of a key Communist Party meeting a decade ago, yet what followed was more of the same: rapid investment-led expansion, which turned China into the world's no.2 economy, but left it laden with debt, environmental damage and excess capacity.

Fast forward to 2013 and China's new leadership is again promising more harmonious development and the question is how to tell whether, this time, it is for real.

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