Nation faces huge challenges ahead

The Chinese stock markets reacted impatiently after the Dragon Boat Festival (Monday through Wednesday) to the changes in the outside world or, to put it another way, a lack of changes inside the country.

Many business figures are weak, although officials say things are under control and the figures don't suggest immediate danger. But words abound in Beijing that such and such a government agency will soon (at various points within the year) roll out a new reform program. This in itself does reflect officials' understanding that the economy cannot proceed as it is. Something has to be done soon enough to buttress the market's confidence.

It is not a matter of to do or not to do, but what to do. Both inside and outside China, investors are whispering about what will be the next move Beijing will take.