I've been saying for awhile now that the People's Republic of China is practicing a sort of Communist Neoliberalism. It appears the Chinese Communists are perfectly aware of this. Following a recent party meeting, the CPC released a statement saying that markets need to play a "decisive role" in allocating resources.
The article says they'll be pursuing a policy of open, unified markets, reducing regulations and expanding free trade zones. This should encourage economic growth and increase revenue for everyone, from the factory workers to multinational CFOs. American economic nationalists will probably cringe at this news, but from a free market capitalist standpoint this is good news. Free trade is good for everyone in the long run, and capitalist nations rarely go to war.
My main concern is that this will be chalked up as a victory for central planning, when in fact it's an example of more laissez-faire policy. Admittedly, it's an ordoliberal approach of rather careful liberalization and deregulation, but fact that Communists are freeing the markets should not be overlooked.
We'll have to wait and see just how far they go and how successful this program is. Considering that the Chinese haven't had much real experience with free markets since, well, ever, a careful gradualist approach is probably the way to go. Hopefully, one of the last bastions of central planning will finally yield their power, and show the world just what liberty can do.
