Ron Insana: China’s crackdown on businesses threatens its standing as an economic superpower

  • Date: 29-Jul-2021
  • Source: CNBC
  • Sector:Economy
  • Country:Middle East
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Ron Insana: China’s crackdown on businesses threatens its standing as an economic superpower

With each day that passes, Beijing is cracking down on businesses, wreaking havoc on its own markets and the shares of Chinese firms that trade in overseas markets, like the U.S. China is endangering the very business model that propelled it into becoming the world's second largest economy by squashing incentives for additional economic gains, silencing its most successful business innovators, or in some cases, detaining and jailing them, while also exerting state control over what once were independent entities. This crackdown on the likes of , and Ant Group, and the removal of the profit potential of , could force a huge outflow of foreign funds from China. It could also destroy domestic consumer confidence in a model that has lifted tens of millions of people out of poverty over at least the last 40 years. With ever-increasing restrictions on free speech, human rights, capital investments and individual freedoms, China has run quickly from Deng Xiaoping's maxim that it didn't matter what kind of economic system it used, as long as that system worked. To quote Deng more directly: It doesn't matter if it's a white cat or a black cat; if it can catch mice, it's a good