"It is the best of times, it is the worst of times." Such are the borrowed remarks on the current mood in Beijing by a senior official from the National Development and Reform Commission, the most powerful macroeconomic management institution in China. Indeed, such a seemingly dichotomous view is widely shared by economists, policy analysts, as well as political elites. Why is it the best of times? China emerged from the global financial meltdown relatively unscathed, taking over Japan as the