Two recent developments will help put China under the spotlight when the world's movers and shakers meet in the Swiss ski resort of Davos for four days starting on Wednesday.

One is China's highest leaders announcing in November that there will be decisive market-oriented programs to extend reform. The other is the frosty relationship between China and Japan, which has worsened since Prime Minister Shinzo Abe visited a controversial shrine in Tokyo.

China seems well-prepared to defend its record at the annual meeting in Davos of the World Economic Forum and to reiterate its goal of peaceful development.