Time to spring into action

Only consistent reforms will provide a strong driving force for economic transition and achieving a xiaokang society

Not long ago, foreign media were saying that China will overtake the United States to become the world's largest economy by 2020. Reading this, I could not help but be wary, not because China cannot afford to be addicted to such puffery, but as many previous occasions prove, such exaggerated "praise" from the West is usually followed by a new round of uproar and suspicion about the so-called China threat.

What really caught my attention though is the importance of the year of 2020 for China and the Chinese people. That is the target for China to become a xiaokang, moderately prosperous, society, and the prospect of China becoming the world's largest economy suggests that strategic goal is near at hand.