How does China's economic model work?

In My Humble Opinion
1

So… what exactly is China’s economic model these days, especially from the perspective of the average Chinese citizen? They are not quite communist in the “we all own the means of production” sense, as there’s obviously rich and poor people there, along with relatively centralized power that the commoners have no say in.

I’ve heard it described as “socialism with Chinese characteristics”, authoritarian capitalism, socialist market economy, etc. I think those capture the general idea that the state controls and owns some sectors/companies while private enterprises exist in less essential domains… is that right?

But what it doesn’t fully capture is the lived experience of such a system. What is it like to be an average working adult there? Do you get paid a salary like elsewhere, go home, and then mostly get to choose what to spend it on? Are some things provided by the state? Can you “upgrade” those things if you don’t like them, or otherwise have free control of your assets? What are you allowed to invest in? What sorts of jobs are you allowed to take, and is that something you can decide for yourself and change whenever you want, or is there some social system that determines your profession?

What if you wanted to start a small business, like a restaurant, or even medium-sized solar company or a big international gaming conglomerate? Are you basically left alone until and unless you pose a threat to the CCP, at which point they can without warning seize everything you have and nationalize your company? Does that happen often?

What about the socialism/communism part… within this hybrid capitalist-authoritarian model, are there still impactful elements of shared societal control and ownership of capital/means of production, or even just wealth redistribution/welfare schemes for basic needs, or are those just feel-good mantras detached from reality now? (like the “Democratic” in the DPRK)

Not really trying to pass any sort of value judgment about whether such a system is any better or worse than the American model. Just trying to understand what it actually is and how it works, both on paper and in actuality.

I hope I didn’t miss a search about this…? The last topic seems to have been 20 years ago (How does the economy really work in China these days. Is it quasi-capitalism or not?)

2

Hopefully someone who knows far more than me will reply, this is an interesting subject.

One issue about China is that supposedly if you invest in China, you can’t take your money out after that. The money is stuck in China so you have to reinvest it there. Supposedly that changed post COVID to encourage more foreign investment.

My understanding is that also, one technique China will do is encourage a foreign nation to invest in production in China. Then the Chinese will learn how to produce the products domestically by observing and stealing corporate information, and create a domestic competitor company. The Chinese government will heavily subsidize this domestic competitor to outcompete the other producers on the global marketplace.

The GINI coefficient measures inequality with the higher the number the worse.

Chinas GINI coefficient is 0.54 before taxes/transfers, and 0.46 after. so a drop of 0.08

The US by comparison, which has one of the weakest social safety nets of any developed nation, is 0.51 before and 0.39 after

Many other rich nations get their GINI coefficients down to between 0.2 to 0.35 after taxes and transfers.