Sustaining high growth

Third, and possibly most important, is the quality of China's new leaders. From President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang on down, China's new leadership team is quite sophisticated in terms of analytics, risk assessment, scenario modeling, and devising innovative solutions to tough problems.

Moreover, under the organizational umbrella of the National Development and Reform Commission, the latter-day version of the old central planning apparatus, China has marshaled considerable resources into the formulation of a comprehensive and well-thought-out economic strategy.

However, it will take more than strong policy and analytical skills to deal with the tough economic challenges that lie ahead, as has been repeatedly demonstrated in the West in recent years, and there are no guarantees that China's newly installed leaders will avoid comparable pitfalls.

Vision and strategy are vital, but it will take courage and determination to tackle what is perhaps the biggest obstacle of all to any new growth strategy resistance from deeply entrenched local and provincial power blocs. To overcome these, strong words must be accompanied by bold action.

The author is a faculty member at Yale University and former Chairman of Morgan Stanley Asia, and is the author of The Next Asia. Project Syndicate.