China has maintained very rapid economic growth and development over several decades, but it now faces the challenge of ensuring that further progress – economic, social and environmental – will be both sustainable and comprehensive. This will require fostering innovation, which can play a major role in achieving that goal.

Economic reforms, including the launch of the “open door” policy, prepared the ground for the Chinese economy’s nearly three decades of extraordinary performance. China’s re-emergence as a major power in the world economy is one of the most significant developments in modern history...