The Chinese Communist Party will hold plenary meetings in a few weeks, taking up the matter of renewed reform in the world's second most important economy. While a grandiose announcement is guaranteed, China must have authentic and powerful economic reform to trigger another generation of rising wealth.The catch is that what would be good for the People's Republic of Cina (PRC) is not necessarily good for the United States. There are important ways in which the United States might be better off if the Party loses its nerve and economic reform is a fraud.

In the run up to the plenum, there has been plenty of debate over whether Party General Secretary Xi Jinping and the top leadership have the vision and authority to implement real reform. They will be opposed by the likes of extremely rich senior officers of state-owned enterprises, who also happen to be extremely rich senior members of the Communist Party. A question rarely asked is: whom should the United States root for?

The reflex answer is for the reformers. The American business community noticed the absence of reform about five years late but is now crowing for it. More important, a more market-oriented Chinese economy means a good deal more market-oriented competition in the global economy.

Much as we sometimes dislike it, tough commercial competition-untouched by political intervention-is what creates prosperity. It improves quality, drives down prices, and spurs productivity and innovation. A genuinely competitive China will be good for the world.