<b>Claude Smadja:</b> Watch out for a pivotal year in China

The year 2017 will be a crucial one for China, an inflection point for the country’s economic policy, its foreign policy and standing the world, its internal balance of power and social order. This is the last year of Xi Jinping first presidential mandate and it will shape the course that the Chinese leader will follow in his second term, his policy orientations and his ability to implement them successfully.

Regarding the economy, 2017 will determine the ability of the Beijing leadership to pursue the restructuring of the economy, while sustaining the level of growth necessary for social stability. The key