Manufacturing might

Forecasts that China is set to overtake the United States as the world's largest manufacturer next year will surely be eye-catching, if not as much as the Olympic Games in Beijing.

A top slot in global manufacturing may speak volumes for the remarkable rise of China's manufacturing-led economy over the past three decades.

But it tells little about the challenges the Chinese economy faces now, not to mention its reliability as a guide to how the country's manufacturing capability will develop in the long run.