Let me speak plainly. I want China’s economic reforms to work. I want reforms because I want Beijing to succeed in building a strong and sustainable economy. A stagnating China is bad for everyone – for China, the region and the world.

But I am worried.

I am not a “China bear”. As someone who travels around China a lot, I have seen much of the change over the past two decades. Things have actually going pretty well for much of that period - certainly better than most other emerging economies. People remained optimistic about the future, about their kids' futures. Beijing’s policy makers are not gods, but neither are they idiots - and over time they’ve proven pretty good at making policy that works to raise living standards.