The most significant latest development was no doubt the Political Bureau's standing committee meeting to review the economy's performance in the first quarter. It took place on April 25, shortly before the May Day holiday. Most people worked for only two days last week.

For the first time in China, the top leaders proposed (from the Politburo meeting) a three-pronged guideline. It is, translated roughly, to keep steady in macroeconomic policies, to be more flexible with microeconomic policies and to guarantee the bottom line in social policies.

The most noticeable part of it is the acknowledgement that the government should become more liberal in day-to-day business administration, or that, to put it another way, the government's present way of looking after the economy remains unhealthily stiff.