(Nov 17): China’s reform drive is winning plaudits from economists who are increasingly confident that excesses in the world’s second-largest economy can be tackled without derailing growth.

Faced with a debt pile rising toward three times annual output, a property market showing signs of turning, and entrenched interests slowing long-needed reform of state enterprises, China’s top officials are signalling that the tough jobs can’t be put off much longer.

People’s Bank of China research director Xu Zhong said at a conference in Beijing Thursday that after four decades of reform and development, most low-hanging fruit has been picked. What remains involves the hard stuff, like meaningful governance changes to state-owned companies and overhauling how local government is funded.

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