As Communist Party leaders begin a four-day retreat to decide where to take China's economy, they would be wise to think about Steve Jobs. Their country's economic well-being may be at risk if they don't.

It's true that China boasts what so many politicians around the globe surely dream about: growth of more 7 percent; armies of laborers who stomach low wages and sketchy work conditions; legions of foreign executives who value profits at the expense of environmental calamity; and the kind of monopoly on power that lets officials snap their fingers and do what they want.

Here's what China lacks: young citizens with a dream and a laptop getting ready to create the next game-changing company. In other words, the next Apple, Google, Rovio or Samsung.