2d ago

Why is China still under socialism with Chinese characteristics?

I understand that the market reforms where great for the people of China and helped it develop into a global superpower competing with the USA. However, now that there is such growth, shouldn't they start tuning down the private sector until it's fully replaced? Similar market reforms happened in the USSR, but that was replaced when the USSR economy grew. I tried to research it, but all I got was capitalist bs from the west. Also, even with the private sector, shouldn't higher education be paid for? I understand that there is nuance and it is not that simple, that is why I'm posting this: I want to understand the nuance, not to spread ultra bs.

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Something important to note about China's private sector compared to Western liberal ones, is that it's highly regulated, and because of that a lot of the disgustingly abusive ways that private corporations treat the public just doesn't happen there.
For example, with ads in apps. It's just accepted knowledge that with 'free' apps, you are the product and the app sells your data and/or attention to advertisers. In China that's all extremely regulated: if you see an ad, it's got to come with some kind of special offer or deal that benefits you, and not in bullshit "mark the price up and then discount it back down" kinds of ways.
So in the West the app sells your attention to the advertisers; in China the app sells access to you and the advertisers give you coupons and discounts (that automatically get processed by the app's payment system) in exchange for your attention.
And the most important part is that if people report an ad, the government will be on the side of the public when it investigates, as opposed to the toothless reporting systems that nobody bothers with in the West.
The net effect of this, and many many other kinds of 'authoritarian' regulatory laws that don't exist in the west, is that I'm not experiencing the same kind of enshittification in China as I am in the West.
- Now I understand why a lot of Chinese online retailers always have flashy deals in their ads!
  It all makes sense
- I've heard accusations of shitty working conditions in China where people slave long times at companies like shein and temu (not limited to them though) for cents. Western bs?
  
  "Shitty working conditions" is very subjective.
  They're allowed to go to the toilet.
  And if you're working in the city, you're there by choice and moving back to a rural life is an option.
  And you got free healthcare.
  And the company has to provide boarding if you can't afford your own place at city rental rates.
  How does that all line up against working at an Amazon Fulfillment Center or Walmart?
  What isn't subjective is that shitty working conditions in China are improving, while shitty working conditions under neoliberalism are getting worse.
https://kritikpunkt.com/en/2025/07/21/on-socialism-in-china-2/
This article gives a materialist history analysis of China. An amazing read.
The simple answer is: because it's working. Why would they abandon a policy that has been and continues to be incredibly successful? That's not to say there haven't been issues that have come up along the way, such as the massive corruption problem in the 90s and early 2000s, or the real estate bubble, or the out-of-control private tutoring industry.
Whenever such an issue appears which starts to seriously threaten social stability and negatively affect the positive trajectory that China is on, it is addressed and dealt with, as the aforementioned issues were. Other more minor issues are handled in a less top-down way and left to local governments to experiment and find the best solutions. China's approach is less ideological than maybe we would like and more practical, result-focused.
In addition to the general trend beginning in the late 1980s of decentralizing and delegating responsibilities to local governments, higher education in particular is a field where China has experienced a real revolution over the past 30-40 years, with an explosive growth in the number of students each year, and that can be hard for a government to deal with in a country as big as China while still maintaining high academic standards that let them compete internationally. For comparison:
China produces more STEM graduates each year than the entire Western world combined, and currently graduates about 12 million people each year in total, and yet its per capita GDP, even adjusted for PPP, is still lower than that of most European countries. So there is a huge amount of competition for a still not that high number of higher education spots considering the immense population size.
The way they currently deal with this challenge is by providing a lot of grants and scholarship programs for citizens from lower socio-economic or ethnic minority backgrounds, while letting those who can afford it pay their own tuition. Also, compared with other tuition systems it is still relatively cheap, because universities also receive extensive public subsidies, and because the vast majority of the system is essentially state run.
Here's a 2018 research paper on how financing of higher education in China has changed over the years: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/325171750_Higher_Education_Financing_in_China
As with everything in China if the current system starts to no longer be fit for purpose they will adapt and change. I can definitely foresee them going toward a tuition free model like some of the European countries if the current model begins to cause social issues, or impedes their technological and scientific advancement. I am definitely all for it, but China tends to be very conservative when it comes to making major changes when there is not a pressing need for them.
- Thank you for this post/comment and sharing that study.
- Alright, makes sense. Don't agree with the conservative approach, but I understand why. Thanks.
  
  Neither do i, for the record. But we have to acknowledge that we are not in their position, we don't have all the facts available, we don't have all the data they do, we are not privy to their internal discussions, and so we shouldn't think that we know better than them how they should run their country. If we did that, would we be any better than the western chauvinists who want to dictate that every country should adopt our liberal model?
  We can only judge by looking at the results, and so far, looking at where China is now vs where it was 40 years ago, the results are not just good, they are amazing. This doesn't mean there aren't significant problems and contradictions within China, partly as a result of the very same policies which got them to where they are today. Sooner or later these contradictions will have to be resolved. How, i don't know. That's for them to figure out.

13 comments