China's leaders to choose economic path at high-pressure third plenum

SHANGHAI -- At a national science award ceremony in Beijing on June 24, President Xi Jinping rattled off a list of China's technological achievements, striking an upbeat tone despite spiraling economic challenges.

China's latest lunar probe was on its way back to Earth carrying the first soil samples ever collected from the far side of the moon. Domestically produced aircraft were being used for commercial flights, denting the Boeing-Airbus duopoly. Chinese electric cars had upended the global automobile industry.