Reform in the air

MOST governments pack up in the summer and head for the beach. The Chinese leadership does so, too, but the annual vacation at the seaside resort of Beidaihe is a working one. Decisions made in secret there set the substance and tone of government for the coming year, and they decide who is to rise and who to fall in the Communist Party hierarchy. The signs are that this year's August retreat—laying the ground for the party congress that follows soon after—may produce initiatives for economic reform that will be surprising in their boldness. The state may even be prepared to admit that it should give up its commanding position over the economy—renouncing socialism in all but name.