The party boss in Guangdong, whose GDP would place it in the world's top 20 nations, says he's more concerned about realigning the economy than being No.1 in China.
Peculiarly for a country's whose GDP is doubling every 8 years, China has very few new stories that inspire happiness, as our end-of-year series shows.
The punishment of Ping An Securities, which mishandled a recent IPO, impressed the market with its severity. In fact, the underwriter was lucky to keep its license.
Westerners in China are familiar with the dilemma that Italians and Greeks confronted last week - there are sometimes easier paths to prosperity than picking leaders though popular elections.