CHINA'S NEXT TASK. GET FOR THE US A REAL MARKET ECONOMY

China has been pursuing the most significant liberalisation programme in history. As Stephen Green of Chatham House puts it: "China’s private sector is booming, its Communist Party oversees one of the most liberal trade regimes of any developing country and the provinces are privatising their assets at a rate that would cause Margaret Thatcher to blush. In short, China is fast becoming a market economy."

There's a long way to go, but its largely unilateral opening up in recent years, combined with domestic market reforms, has seen it secure double digit economic growth. According to EUobserver:

The European Commission is optimistic about market economy reforms in China, saying the Asian state has made "significant progress."... In a commission assessment report presented to trade experts from EU member countries recently and seen by EUobserver, the EU executive says "China has made significant progress towards market economy status" in the last three years, adding that the Asian state has "shown evidence that it is committed to significantly reducing state interference in the management of companies."

Now the challenge is for China to continue these reforms and have market economy status (MES) recognised by the EU, which would make the country less susceptible to anti-dumping action (at present it is labeled as a "non-market economy").