• ☆ Yσɠƚԋσʂ ☆OP
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    5 months ago

    The primary goal of opening up was to achieve technological parity with the west. And this worked spectacularly. China received a massive amount of tech transfer from western companies, and has now become an industrial superpower. Opening up also resulted in millions of workers being trained, students getting education at top western universities, and so on. This was absolutely the right decision from the perspective of developing the productive forces of the country.

    It’s also important to note that 90% of families in the country own their home giving China one of the highest home ownership rates in the world. What’s more is that 80% of these homes are owned outright, without mortgages or any other leans.

    Given that vast majority of people own their housing, it’s pretty clear that real estate in China isn’t used for landlording and an investment vehicle the way it is in the west. The government is now intentionally winding this sector down. There aren’t any bailouts happening, so this in no any way comparable to 2008 crisis in US. Assets of these companies will be nationalized and a handful of rich investors will lose money.

    Furthermore, the government can simply write off its own debt because it controls the currency. Michael Hudson explains how this is going to work out here. There wouldn’t be an easy way out of this in a capitalist country because capitalists wouldn’t accept taking a loss, however there’s a very clear out of this in China.

    And of course, China is actively working on developing internal circulation economy, that’s the whole point of the dual circulation policy they’ve been pursuing.

    Meanwhile, overall Chinese economy is starting to transition towards high tech sectors, particularly in renewable energy, space, and computer production. China is also increasingly using the skills they developed building infrastructure domestically to export infrastructure production to other countries.

    So, I completely disagree with the assertion that US managed to mess China up. Every economy has ups and downs, every government makes mistakes. China is no different in this regard. However, none of the mistakes the party has made to date have had any major negative impact on the overall trajectory.