After the 18th Party Congress, many questions remain as to the path that China will take in the next five years, and how the new leadership will weigh on policy. One of the key bellwether areas to gauge reform will be media and the Internet. The pressure for China to open up the public space is growing, and open communication is increasingly necessary to further enhance economic performance. However, this will conflict with the instinctive climate of opacity fostered by the CCP. We will discuss the potential evolution of media policy, as well as current debates and trends with Professor Li Danlin (Communications University of China) and Ge Chen (University of Göttingen).