After months of speculation, the final 22,000-character overview of China"s "third plenum" was published on November 15th. In the economic sphere the document turned out to be bolder than the initial summary suggested, but the document"s interest lies not just in the economic reforms, which were anticipated. More striking were some of the social changes the document announced, such as the relaxation of the one-child policy. A couple in which one parent is an only child will be allowed to have two children, and the policy is likely to be loosened even further. In another widely welcomed move, labor camps are to be abolished. But possibly the most important announcements were buried deep in the document and grabbed fewer headlines. Two moves in particular, namely allowing the development of "social organizations" or NGOs in essence and the separation of judicial jurisdiction systems from administrative areas, showed that the party is sensitive to the ferment in Chinese society and the demands for greater liberty and accountability that accompany it. In the past 30 years China has gone from a totalitarian society to one in which people can usually work where they want, marry whom they want, travel where they want (albeit with varying degrees of hassle for those from the countryside and ethnic-minority regions). In ten years internet penetration has gone from minimal to almost universal. Old welfare structures have broken down, with little to take their place. Ordinary people are being empowered by new wealth and participation, through microblogs, and by becoming consumers and property owners. Change is bubbling up from the bottom and the system cannot contain it. That these two gestures towards reform were mentioned at all is encouraging, and the world is keen to know whether Chinese leadership will honor their words in the plenary document that they "Dare to gnaw through even tough bones, dare to ford dangerous rapids, break through the fetters of ideological concepts with even greater resolution."