While excessive freedom for subnational governments can lead to instability, excessive control can choke off the local-level experimentation and competition that has long driven growth in China.

Apple announced last Wednesday that it failed to meet sales expectations in China. This, along with other warning signs, suggests that the Chinese economy is slowing down. And as China acted as one of the main engines of the global post-2008 recovery, this spells trouble for the global economy.

China needs to reduce preferential treatment for state-owned enterprises not involved in national security.

China will not go the way of the Soviet Union.

In order to reach high-income status, China will need to overcome four challenges.

Amid a contentious economic environment, China should avoid its typical reforms and responses in favor of structural adjustments that can attack the problem rather than its symptoms.

China's central bank announced measures to lower financing costs and spur growth amid concerns over the country's economy.

In attempting to modernize its governance structure, China must reimagine its relationship between its central government and local authorities, despite the risks involved.

China’s economic exceptionalism is now being threatened by a perfect storm of existing stresses – namely, the domestic debt build-up – and new complications, including US trade barriers, the geopolitical pushback against China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), and tightening monetary conditions, particularly in the United States.

While some observers are concerned by the fall of the Chinese currency, past experience offers a clear lesson: don’t panic.