The CPC still faces the economic challenge of overcoming the middle-income country trap to become a high-income society, says an article in the Nihon Keizai Shimbun. Excerpts:

Although China overtook Japan in 2010 to become the world's second largest economy, its per capita GDP is only about one-ninth of Japan and the United States. So China is still very much a middle-income country.

In fact, because of the income gap between urban and rural areas and among different regions many people in China cannot even be categorized as middle class.

Consumption in China accounts for only 40 percent of GDP, which is much lower than Japan's 60 percent and the US' 70.

If all Chinese do not enjoy the fruits of development, China will find it difficult to transform itself from an export- and investment-driven country into a consumption-driven society. Hopefully, the 18th CPC Congress will provide the answers to these questions.