China’s Centralized Approach to Economics Is the Country’s Greatest Weakness

Contrary to much media commentary and political fear mongering in the West, Beijing’s centralized economic control is more weakness than strength.

A general view of buildings in the abandoned Qingquan Steel plant, which closed in 2014 and became one of several so-called zombie factories, in Tangshan, China, on Jan. 26, 2016. Kevin Frayer/Getty Images

Commentary

Many Western journalists, commentators, and politicians express fear of the ability of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to exert complete political and economic control. They see it as a competitive edge China has over the seemingly chaotic, market-oriented approaches of the Western democracies. But they could not be more wrong. Beijing’s insistence on centralized control is, in fact, a source of economic weakness, and that is already clearly evident.