A hint to this nation's policymakers: If they are looking for guidelines to the long-awaited tax reform, take a good look at Australia's latest plan to increase worker pension funds with a new tax on resource projects.

This nation is badly in need of reforming the resource tax to conserve resources and protect the environment. Reform could also help narrow the disparity in incomes, a key problem that China must overcome to develop sustainably.

Though the government's priority is to evolve the resource-intensive model of economic growth, the country is not doing enough to save its resources, particularly because of the need to fight the worst global recession in decades.