After months of hype, China watchers the world over are underwhelmed by the immediate outcomes of the just-concluded Third Plenary Session of the 18th Central Committee, writes David Shambaugh.

For the first time since the 1980s, Beijing is redefining China’s grand strategy.

On the eve of the Third Plenary Session of the 18th CPC Central Committee, some observers have produced a new bout of predictions about very big breakthroughs in the upcoming period of reform. However, many of these predictions will probably prove unrealistic, writes Zhu Lijia.

Outside China, the prevalent view among business leaders is that President Xi Jinping’s new administration has consolidated its power and acquired enough authority to push through far-reaching economic reforms. Unfortunately, this view is both too sanguine and naïve.

One has full reason to expect that the CPC Central Committee’s third plenum will inject new force into China’s development by reshaping its economy and lend a strong push to the world economy in its recovery, writes Chen Qun.

Chinese leaders have an unenviable problem--how to sustain its explosive economic rise. They have a dragon by the tail as they try to manage economic growth as it shows signs of sputtering, writes Tom Watkins.

The upcoming Third Plenum of the 18th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, slated for November 9-12, has become a hot topic in the media. It is expected that future reforms will mainly focus on four aspects, writes Ding Yifan.

The pessimistic outlook on China’s Third Plenum fails to capture the leadership’s momentum, sense of urgency, and collective understanding of the need to embark on big, bold and broad reforms to gain public support before it’s too late, write Cheng Li and Ryan McElveen.

The Third Plenum of the 18th Party Congress is likely to entail significant financial reform, the Party appears unready to contemplate a more liberal course or a fundamental change in the nature of its governance, writes Douglas Paal.

The Third Plenum will be the first major opportunity under China’s new leadership to see how they plan to approach the two major goals of economic and social reform, writes Kerry Brown.