Chinese leaders must expedite reform, or else it would become impossible for China to overcome the difficulties it would face during its peaceful rise, says an article in Italy-based La Repubblica. Excerpts:

The 18th CPC National Congress is very important for China, because it will see Chinese leaders spell out plans to push forward the "second reform" to help the country overcome the difficulties on way to its peaceful rise.

Although the US presidential election grabbed most of the headlines across the world in the preceding weeks, it is China that will change the world in this century.

China's rise is an indisputable fact. The Chinese economy is an absolute success.

China has not only saved the US economy and prevented the euro from collapsing altogether, but also holds large sums of US' and European countries' debts.

The country has made great progress in soft power, too. It hosted a grand Beijing 2008 Olympics and a dazzling Shanghai 2010 World Expo, and Mo Yan has now won the Nobel Prize for Literature.

(China Daily 11/15/2012 page10)