“It will be very painful and even feel like cutting one’s wrist.” So predicted Li Keqiang, China’s premier, as he discussed the task ahead of him during his first press conference last March.
Not the most inviting prospect for investors looking to make a play on China. But they should certainly take heed of these words. Li is the man who, together with president Xi Jinping, must lead a reform programme regarded by analysts as the most fundamental in decades. It will affect almost every part of an economy worth $9.4tn (Britain’s annual output, for comparison, is $2.4tn).
So what are these reforms? And why does China’s new leader think that their implementation will be so painful? There are three key areas which investors should note.
