Free Republic

One likely target is the nation's old, behemoth state-owned enterprises, many controlled by a clique of elite families. The enterprises still hold sway in the economy, heavily subsidized and benefiting from monopolistic pricing. Also expected to come under scrutiny is an archaic residential registration system known as hukou, which prevents tens of millions of people from moving to cities with the best jobs and schools. For all the hype about the China "miracle," economists note there are other countries that achieved huge spurts of growth in the 20th century — among them Japan and Brazil — by pouring investment into...

Beijing — A rice bag holds nearly all the earthly belongings of Xu Xian He, a 60-year-old migrant worker. He sits at the Beijing West Railway Station, smoking tobacco through a long pipe and waiting for the eight-hour train ride home to Jiaozuo, Henan Province. He’ll visit his wife and his beloved farm for a few days, and then he’ll leave again to find construction work in another city. “I like every place where I can make money,” Xu pointedly tells me through an interpreter. As long as he earns more than farm wages, “I don’t care what city. There’s...