Michael Fritzell on China's economic experiment: "A return to Mao-era governance seems unlikely"

It seems to be true that China’s development has occurred in fits and starts, in periods of opening up and closing off.  Perhaps we are now in one of those latter periods. 

I’m not convinced the change will be as dramatic as some might fear.  Private companies face weakening construction activity, reduced access to credit and meddling by Communist Party committees.  But many of them are doing well, and I wouldn’t rule out continued global market share gains in specific sectors of the economy despite weaker headline GDP growth.

A return to Mao-era governance seems unlikely.  While China under Xi has certainly become less free-wheeling than in the past, that doesn’t necessarily mean that the capitalist experiment is over.

~ Michael Fritzell, "China’s capitalist experiment," Asian Century Stocks, March 20, 2024

A poster of Deng Xiaoping demonstrating his commitment
to further economic reforms