President Xi Jinping’s visit to Washington this month could be as consequential for the world economy as then-vice premier Deng Xiaoping’s American tour of 1979.

This summer’s events have shaken global confidence in China’s commitment to structural economic reforms. What was a high growth economy fuelled by exports, investment and saving needs to shift to growth led by domestic demand and consumption. This adjustment was always going to require skilled steering. The Communist party’s Third Plenum of November 2013 charted that journey with a 326-point [can’t find this figure cd you send source pls?]road map; reformers explained [at the time?] it would take seven to 10 years. When China’s economy slowed earlier this year, the government [can we say government not ‘party’ here?]cheered a surge in stock prices as a signal of confidence.

But when markets tumbled, its haphazard reactions appeared counterproductive. The party seemed determined to rule markets as well as people[cut: raising the stakes for its image of unchallenged authority}. Some wondered what these interventions — with their reliance on state-owned enterprises, regulatory diktats,[dictats?] and massive government financing — meant for China’s future reforms. The imposition of controls seemed to conflict