Have you decided yet whether China is a command economy or a free market? Or does it depend on how you want to spin it at the time?

What would you rather have, a government that grants its citizens freedom, or a government that kills 100 million of them?

freediver wrote on Jul 6^th, 2024 at 7:11am:
 

I must say I love it when you ask an - on the surface at least - intelligent question, for a change.

China has shown a partial transition from a wholly  command economy in the 60s, through to introduction of  free markets (in the 60s) in certain defined areas of the economy, eg private entrepreneurship, in a process of pragmatic policy change which is directed to achieving  common prosperity. 

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Oh dear - "spin" ....; only a blind free market ideologue would suggest it.

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See above.

freediver wrote on Jul 13^th, 2024 at 9:04am:


https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/chinas-byd-lowers-starting...

BEIJING, March 6 (Reuters) - Chinese electric vehicle giant BYD on Wednesday added fuel to the flames of a brutal price war in China by cutting the price of its cheapest car, the Seagull, by 5%.
Sticker tags for the Seagull, a compact car, will now start at 69,800 yuan ($9,700).
BYD has become a relentless discounter in the price war Tesla (TSLA.O), began in the world's largest auto market last year. That aggressive stance has helped it unseat its U.S. rival as the world's biggest seller of electric vehicles even if most of BYD's cars are sold in China.

Note per capita gdp in China is currently c. $13,000, so at least 50% of the population  can afford them - and the Chinese govt. COULD subsidize  purchase by low income workers.

(PPP figures might shed more light on the matter; China's PPP GDP is c.35 trillion,  larger than US PPP GDP c. 28 trillion).

Re the economy:

The Third Plenum of the Communist Party's Central Committee will convene July 15 to 18 to outline a long-term economic reform agenda.

It will be fascinating to see if China - in its search for economic growth with common prosperity - can distance itself from the hideous economic and political  conflicts raging in the Western neoliberal democracies, in which central bankers are forcing austerity onto governments, with false narratives like "the nation is broke", and other lies.





 

freediver wrote on Jul 13^th, 2024 at 2:12pm:


FD is a bad faith actor,  as others have noted.

The BYD Seal is priced at c.70k yuan  (c.$9k) . according to the linked Reuters article - are you physically - as well as mentally - blind?

More to the point: here's some more CCP "propaganda":

Since the Third Plenary Session of the 18th Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, China has witnessed comprehensive achievements in its reform and opening-up, paving ways for the country to realize its second centenary goal of building a modern socialist country that is prosperous, strong, democratic, culturally advanced and harmonious by 2049, Chinese economists said.

Since Chinese leader Xi Jinping took the top office more than a decade ago, China has entered a "new era." As the world today is undergoing major changes unseen in a century, the country's economic strength has grown, and its international influence has continued to rise. Reform is the hallmark of this era.

As the CPC will convene on July 15 in Beijing the third plenary session of its 20th central committee, which will primarily examine issues related to further comprehensively deepening reform and advancing Chinese modernization, analysts noted that China's economic progress fostered by the Party's relentless efforts in forging ahead reform and opening-up has contributed to global prosperity and security.

China's economy has achieved a historic rise, with GDP growing to 126 trillion yuan ($18 trillion) in 2023 from 53.9 trillion yuan in 2012. For years, China has contributed about 30 percent of global GDP growth.

Market's decisive role.

Under the strong leadership of the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core, the country has conducted in-depth reforms in both building the unified domestic market and forming new structure of all-round opening-up, having scored remarkable achievements in promoting the market economy, sci-tech innovations and higher-level opening-up, Yu Miaojie, president of Liaoning University, told the Global Times.

One of hallmarks in the past years is that the Chinese economy was able to maintain a relatively fast growth rate while conducting its structural reforms that give the economy new vitality for more sustainable and high-quality growth, experts noted.

Along with the country's policies to optimize resources allocation and foster the transition of traditional industries, emerging industries saw fast expansion and the services industry continued to grow in prominence.

A reform decision in 2013 said that it was China's aim for the market to play a "decisive" role in allocating resources.

Through the implementation of the supply-side structural reform, the country pushed the economy toward high-quality development and moving to construct a new development pattern. This was achieved while the country is being confronted with major challenges, such as downward economic pressure due to the lingering impact from the COVID-19 pandemic, rising protectionism and suppression from Western nations, and risks associated with the real estate sector and local government debt issues.

From 2012 to 2023, the proportion of the value-added output from high-tech manufacturing in overall value-added output of large industrial enterprises has grown from 9.4 percent to 15.7 percent, while that of the equipment manufacturing sector rose from 28 percent to 33.6 percent, according to a report by Xinhua.

Cao Heping, an economist at Peking University, told the Global Times that under the Party's leadership, the Chinese economy was able to maintain growth rate at roughly twice the rates of other major developed economies, and the Chinese economy has entered a period of steady progress in upgrading its economic structure and the adoption of new technologies, gradually shifting its production model from the traditional assembly line manufacturing to connected and sharing manufacturing supported by advanced digital technologies.

Such a transition would be impossible without the steadfast leadership by the Party in promoting scientific and technological progress which allows the digital economy to penetrate all sectors of the economy, and all of these are happening amid a challenging external environment featured by a global slowdown and US-led decoupling push and tech war against China, Cao said.

Global Times.

.....In contrast to 'freemarket' ideologue fools like Oz  Productivity Commission chief Danielle Wood who says the Albo government should not be intervening in the market with eg a "Made in Oz" policy funded by taxpayers.  Even Biden knows the limits of the free market.

and  another free market ideologue fool on the ABC today, from the ASPI who today is blaming Xi's economic policies for China's current slowdown, despite the fact Oz is going backwards in per capita gdp terms.

freediver wrote on Jul 14^th, 2024 at 8:42am:


Please explain the error in my maths, there's a good chap.  The Seal is priced at c. the median income in China.

More to the point: democratic, adversarial-party, political dysfunction has today resulted  in Trump coming within mms. of death today (how's my maths so far....?).

My link to the CCP third plenary meeting starting this week shows the earnestness with which the CCP regards people-centred economic reform and development, to achieve common prosperity.

Contrast with the US, the "Beacon on the Hill"; irreconciliable political differences have resulted in the ultimate expression of political violence, as individuals' "subjective realities" clash, and a particular nut case goes the whole hog...

Given the degree of hyperpartisanship, we would be witnessing an actual civil war in the US today, if Trump had been killed.

The reason for all this chaos? 

Because democracies don't care about the losers in the competitive, neoliberal market economy, eg US steel workers who have lost their well-paying jobs as a result of Asia's rise, and are forced into low paying service jobs (or unemployment).
aka the "first world rust belt";  while median wages in the US (and Oz) have stagnated since the GFC (see the latest MMT post). .
 

Poor FD: privatization, free-market-ideologue extraordinaire, who wants to condemn the CCP for the failings of neoliberal freemarket democracies.

Deplorable. 

freediver wrote on Jul 14^th, 2024 at 3:24pm:


Meanwhile, politicians of all stripes in neoliberal democracies including the US and Oz are calling for a "lowering of the political rhetoric".....mainly to save their own skins;  but they (like you) continue to ignore the substantial proportion of the population who are suffering in the current cost of living crisis,  stagnant median wages growth since the GFC, and housing affordability crisis - which is why politicians and politics are increasingly despised in the democracies, while rusted on voters think their own side has the answers, and are prepared to resort to violence to defend their own delusional beliefs. 

And you want to condemn the CCP.

Deplorable; may you get the democracy and social cohesion (!) you deserve.... 

freediver wrote on Jul 15^th, 2024 at 2:14pm:


Apparently Trump was heard shouting "fight, fight, fight" while raising his fists, with blood streaming on his face.

He's certainly fearless; but a few hours later, realizing the current potential for civil war in the US, he backtracked a bit and fell into line with Biden's mainstream message: "there is no place for political violence in the US."

Something wrong with our political/economic foundations.....

Why can't we all, through our governments, enjoy reasonable above-poverty participation in the economy?

....regardless of currency-conversion.....

That's question for you, FD....