A question about the chinese economy

[Aeturnal Narcosis]

China is the last powerful nation that considers itself communist, or at least on the path to communism.

recently, the chinese economy has exploded, putting it in 3rd largest overall (i believe), right behind the united states and japan. alot of this prosperity has come from foreign investment (especially with auto makers and electronics firms).

well, the chinese system is a semisocialist one-party republic with a predominantly command economy. i wonder hos this works.

how can a country where the government operates the economy allow foreign corporations to build factories in their countries. does the government put strict controls on these foreign corporations, or are they largely free to operate as they do in capitalist countries? are the workers employed by the government agencies that own and operate all of the other aspects of the economy and production, and are licensed out to these corporations, or are they employed directly by these corporations?

just wondering...

[MrDoom]

China is capitalist.

[Janus]

how can a country where the government operates the economy allow foreign corporations to build factories in their countries.
The economy is still mixed and private businesses are still limited to mainly the major cities.


does the government put strict controls on these foreign corporations, or are they largely free to operate as they do in capitalist countries?
In the "Special Economic Zones", there are few restrictions.


are the workers employed by the government agencies that own and operate all of the other aspects of the economy and production, and are licensed out to these corporations, or are they employed directly by these corporations?
Usually the corporations directly.

[BobKKKindle$]

China is currently, in theory, operating in accordance with the Maoist/Marxist concept of the 'theory of productive forces' whereby it is argued that the economy has to develop the forces of production (the capacity of the economy to produce goods and servics, regardless of their distribution) before a change can be made in the relations of production (how the economy is organised in terms of the ownership and control of the means of production and the distribution of wealth).


general, people cannot be liberated as long as they are unable to obtain food and drink, housing and clothing in adequate quality and quantity. The German Ideology

It is certainly true that the chinese economy has undergone enormous expansion since the institution of Deng's economy reforms, but it remains to be seen whether the Communist Party is consciously adhearing to the above concept or is actively supportive of permanant capitalism. China certainly posesses many of the characteristics of capitalism - Increasing Class struggle (particuarly in semi-rural areas where peasants are losing land to make way for development) growing inequality, and environmental damage. As a citizen of Hong Kong, which is adjacent to the first special economic zone, Shenzhen, I can attest to this. :angry:

[Nusocialist]

China is the last powerful nation that considers itself communist, or at least on the path to communism.
I don't think it calls itself communist.

[BobKKKindle$]

I don't think it calls itself communist.

The Full name of the country is the People's Republic of China. The Main Newspaper (produced by the Party) is called the People's daily. The Party, which has political domination over the entire country, is called the Chinese Communist Party. The Current Head of Government, Hu Jin Tao, is the Chairman of the Communist Party.

[Nusocialist]

The Full name of the country is the People's Republic of China. The Main Newspaper (produced by the Party) is called the People's daily. The Party, which has political domination over the entire country, is called the Chinese Communist Party. The Current Head of Government, Hu Jin Tao, is the Chairman of the Communist Party.
They claim they are socialist,the commmunist party means they wish to move towards communism.
According to this very site,they and no other supposedly communist country,ever actually claimed they were.

[encephalon]

you know, if those in power in china could actually remain true to the communist cause, the ramifications of today's economic circumstances are substantial. In a very short period, China could have the entire world on its economic strings, and manipulate it as such. It could crash the world capitalist economy with the flick of its fingers, and trigger global revolution with minimal effort. Economic clout is, after all, political and social clout. It's only a matter of time before american politicians realize how badly they've positioned themselves in relation to china.

Of course, I really doubt that those in power will remain true to the communist cause.. in fact, they seem to have abandoned it already. But it's an interesting thought, and it would have been an excellent plan to gain the upper hand if they could have remained true to communism.. dammit.

[Aeturnal Narcosis]

China is capitalist.

not quite.

no country is truly capitalist. most countries have some form of mixed capitalist (sometimes called socialist) economy (like the united states, japan, germany, france, etc.).

china has a command economy that has been somewhat relaxed these days toward private enterprise.

believe me, no capitalist or mixed capitalist country has an economy where the government owns and operates most of the means of production.


In the "Special Economic Zones", there are few restrictions.

so then it's pretty much just a reversal to the 1800s feudal china, when the european powers each had their "sphere of influence" in china?


China is currently, in theory, operating in accordance with the Maoist/Marxist concept of the 'theory of productive forces' whereby it is argued that the economy has to develop the forces of production (the capacity of the economy to produce goods and servics, regardless of their distribution) before a change can be made in the relations of production (how the economy is organised in terms of the ownership and control of the means of production and the distribution of wealth).

i can't wait to see how this works out for them (if they are, in fact, simply allowing their economy to be developed, even if by capitalist intervention).

but suppose the chinese communist party is just trying to win the admiration of the people by allowing capitalists to help develop their economy (a developed economy brings prosperity). i hope that's not the case.

just immagine the great things china could do for communism if they allowed the capitalists to develop their economy then put the control of that economy in the hands of the working class majority. it would be progression through the stages of society, driven by the communist party (acting now as the dictatorship of the proletariat, but later returning to full democracy) - they would develop the economy via capitalism then progress to socialism then ultimately to communism.

i remain hopeful.


They claim they are socialist,the commmunist party means they wish to move towards communism.
According to this very site,they and no other supposedly communist country,ever actually claimed they were.

no country is, or ever has been communist. there are countries that claim to be communist, countries that claim to be socialist (and moving toward communism)... but no country is or ever has been communist. right now, i'd say probably the closest thing we have to a workers' paradise is sweden... far from communist, but also far from capitalist. very socialist place.


you know, if those in power in china could actually remain true to the communist cause, the ramifications of today's economic circumstances are substantial. In a very short period, China could have the entire world on its economic strings, and manipulate it as such. It could crash the world capitalist economy with the flick of its fingers, and trigger global revolution with minimal effort. Economic clout is, after all, political and social clout. It's only a matter of time before american politicians realize how badly they've positioned themselves in relation to china.

exactly. that's what i was saying... if they could take a fully developed and modernized capitalist economy and turn it communist... they'd have complete control in a matter of years... china could very well lead the communist revolution.

but as you were saying,
Of course, I really doubt that those in power will remain true to the communist cause.. in fact, they seem to have abandoned it already. But it's an interesting thought, and it would have been an excellent plan to gain the upper hand if they could have remained true to communism.. dammit.

china is definately far from leading the world revolution... at least at this point.

but we always will have another generation of communist leaders, maybe more conservative (conservative communist, that is), yet still progressive enough to not destroy all that has been attained hitherto...

i remain hopeful.

[RevolutionaryMarxist]

Originally posted by [email protected] 18, 2006 07:03 am

The Full name of the country is the People's Republic of China. The Main Newspaper (produced by the Party) is called the People's daily.
There are several other people's republics too, like the People's Republic of Angola, The People's Republic of Bangeldash, etc.

But they don't ally themselves openly with communism, even though most of them are controlled by 'socialist' parties.

[Janus]

so then it's pretty much just a reversal to the 1800s feudal china, when the european powers each had their "sphere of influence" in china?
No, it's not that bad. Just think Shanghai where it's so prosperous that the government doesn't want to meddle in its economic affairs to much but this doesn't mean that US corporations are given total free reign even though those reins are pretty loose.


there are countries that claim to be communist
None of the so called "communist states" (oxymoron aside) actually claimed to be communist though they did claim to be socialist.

[Comrade Castro]

Well I suppose that China developing a form of capitalism and then taking it over into socialism actually seems like a good idea, as they were a totally feudal society before 1949, and communist theory clearly says that capitalism must be the predecessor of socialism and finally communism. And using foreign capitalists to build a strong economy impossible in a clumsy feudal-socialist transition is not a bad idea.