The Eighteenth Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) met in October 2014 with ‘rule of law’ as its central theme. This followed General Secretary Xi Jinping’s (2013) explanation of the Decision of the CPC Central Committee on deepening reform that had made it clear that China will continue to prioritize ‘economic reforms’. In keeping with past pronouncements, there is also the familiar insistence on the CPC’s leading role, with Western notions of judicial independence and separation of powers rejected. This book interprets the meanings and directions of China’s deepening socialist rule of law and questions whether success on the economic front may lay the groundwork for more ambitious legal, social and political reform to come. It further questions whether ongoing economic success can be sustainable without the required legal, social and political reforms.