Dirk van der Kley is a Research Associate in the Lowy Institute's East Asia Program.
- For almost a decade, China's SOEs have blocked plans to make wealth distribution more equal because they don't want to lose tax concessions.
- Since Tiananmen in 1989, people in China have seldom gathered so openly in support of wide-ranging political freedoms as during recent protests in Guangzhou.
- The Central Propaganda Department instructed journalists that 'Party control of the media is an unwavering basic principle'. In response, Bill Bishop writes China is a bull in stocks, but a bear for free speech.
- Is Beijing building its Central Asia ties in order to bind Xinjiang to the rest of China?
- Yu Keping sees China's future as a series of choices about growth, fairness, the environment, values and rights, while Nicholas Kristof believes change is coming and it's for the better.
- Photo gallery of some of China's biggest events in 2012.
- The US$52 million price tag for China's new rail ticketing website has some questioning the tender process.
- China has opened the world's longest high speed railway route despite scandals and budget blowouts. This is a promotional video for China high speed rail network: