New challenges for new leaders

Allocation of resources. How to optimize among sectors? How much to spend, relatively, on industry, agriculture, consumer consumption, healthcare, education, science, military/defense, culture?

Financial ambitions. China intends to become a major financial power, with Shanghai a world financial center. How then to deal with currency exchange rate reforms? How to enable China's yuan to become fully convertible and to become an international reserve currency?

Interest rate reforms. How to allow the market to play a larger role in setting interest rates? Currently, with interest rates controlled by the government, spreads between what big banks borrow (from citizens) and lend (to companies) generate high profits, which are in effect a tax on citizens.

Pollution and environmental protection. How to balance economic growth and development with environmental degradation and pollution? Environmental activism is becoming increasingly vigorous in China. In fact, many "mass incidents" (that is, protests) are pollution induced.

Sustainable development. How can China become less dependent on foreign oil and other imported resources? How to assure that water will be adequate for consumption and industry?

Population dynamics. What is the optimum family planning policy? When should the one-child-per-family norm be amended or terminated? What is the ideal population for China?

Intellectual property rights. How can IPR be sufficiently protected to uphold the rule of law and to stimulate indigenous innovation? How to enforce IPR laws?

Socio-personal

Healthcare. How to restructure China's healthcare system, providing all citizens with competent, contemporary medical services? How to redress gross disparities between urban and rural healthcare? How to curtail systemic corruption?

Education. How to provide quality education for all citizens, reducing severe imbalances between urban and rural schooling? How to rethink traditional Chinese education, which focuses on standardized tests, so that students may be prepared for contemporary society where knowledge creation and social sensitivities predominate?

Housing. How to provide adequate housing at affordable prices? How to prevent housing prices from rising so high that young people cannot afford them - but to do so without undercutting property markets (on which local governments and banks depend)?

Retirement. How to give confidence to citizens that they will have adequate funds for their senior years? (Only then will people spend on current consumption.)

Food safety. How to make sure that China's food supply is safe? How to assure food quality and restore public confidence?

Values and morals. China's values were long based on Confucian ethics, until extreme leftism repudiated them. Now the market economy rewards individual initiative. What values should shape today's China? What about the resurgence of religion?