First and foremost, it’s important to make it clear that no, there’s no such thing as “communism” in China, nor has there ever actually been communism anywhere else according to the definition(s) of Karl Marx, Friedrich Engels et al. because in the equation the thinkers in question envisioned, communism was the final stage… and we
Economic History
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China’s 2015-2016 Stock Market Crash and Its Consequences
On the 5th of June 2015, a severe market crash started from which China has not been able to fully recover. On the contrary, despite a recovery starting as of February of 2016, prices were not able to get anywhere near their pre-crash highs and, in fact, they went to new lows toward the end
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The Great Recession (Global Financial Crisis) of 2007-2008 and Its Effect on China
The Great Recession (or Global Financial Crisis, if you prefer this terminology) of 2007-2008 (in)famously had its origins in the United States. More specifically, everyone went crazy when it came to real estate in the US: the average consumer bought more than he could afford to by taking advantage of the easily available mortgage packages,
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Hu Jintao’s Conservative Balance-Oriented Leadership of China
Jiang Zemin left behind a China of contradictions in many respects. On the one hand, a nation that had experienced impressive economic growth but on the other hand, the frequently unsustainable nature of that economic growth came with its own set of problems, from externalities such as pollution to ideological inconsistencies (with many members of
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The (Surprising) Rule of Jiang Zemin
The term of Jiang Zemin, the let’s say successor of Deng Xiaoping, is fascinating to observe not because he has a similar legacy to put on the table (hint: he doesn’t) but rather because he was someone who was able to make the most of the cards he was dealt politically and as such, his
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Deng Xiaoping and the Modernization(s) of China
As mentioned in our article about Mao Zedong, an attitude shift with respect to the proverbial West started taking place near Mao’s death but it was a fairly… well, let’s call it modest one. Not only was it modest, the reasons behind it were less related to the intention of embarking on a journey toward
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China During the Mao Zedong Era
If one had to describe Mao Zedong using just two words, “the ideologue” would most likely be the number one choice… with pros but unfortunately also cons deriving from his strongly ideology-driven approach to ruling China. To put things into perspective, Mao Zedong’s attitude when Nikita Khrushchev came to power in the USSR (following Stalin’s
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Reforms in China: A Quick Timeline
There are quite a few articles about reforms or articles about other topics but which mention one reform or another here on ChinaFund.com. For the sake of clarity and seeing the big picture, it would perhaps be wise to glance over a quick timeline when it comes to significant events/reforms in China. While by no
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China’s Pre-Reform Import Timeline: From Silk Road to 20th Century
As mentioned in our “brief” economic history of China post, let’s just say the Chinese have never been all that fond of foreigners. For the most part, they considered them inferior “barbarians” (a commonly-used term) that needed to be kept at bay. However, this doesn’t mean no trade whatsoever existed, not at all. As of
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A Brief Economic History of China
Starting an economic adventure in China as an investor without at the very least having a firm grasp on the very basics of its economic history would be a foolish mistakes. To that effect, I always encourage potential investors to start by analyzing the Angus Maddison database, which tracks the percentage of the world’s GDP