# Reemergence of Chinese business class after Mao? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 6, 2025, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reemergence-of-chinese-business-class-after-mao/1023725 "2025-10-06T17:56:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2025, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reemergence-of-chinese-business-class-after-mao/1023725/21 "2025-10-08T02:37:00Z")
> [@Lumpy](#): > > It’s saying something that the Chinese Communist Party managed to make Ayn Rand look right. I think Rand was strongly shaped by the communist regime in the Soviet Union. Her father was a pharmacist with his own practice and they were rather comfortable economically speaking. That ended when the Bolsheviks took over and nationalizing his pharmacy and leaving the family destitute and nearly starving just a few short years later. @Xocomil’s post reminds me how similar China and the old Soviet Union was in many ways. The Soviets figured out they couldn’t do away with their black market because their economy would crash without it. ---
**Author:** ![md-2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9d8465/32.png) [@md-2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md-2000)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2025, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reemergence-of-chinese-business-class-after-mao/1023725/22 "2025-10-08T17:27:51Z")
It’s always been a concern in authoritarian regimes (or any) that money is power. Even if the person cannot speak publicly, they can still spread some wealth around to ensure they are heard privately, undercutting the leadership. It’s an obvious motivation for the leadership to ensure that people outside the regime don’t accumulate too much wealth or toe the line - as Putin and Xi have both enforced, in their own ways. ---
**Author:** ![China\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2025, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reemergence-of-chinese-business-class-after-mao/1023725/23 "2025-10-08T18:58:24Z")
> [@Reply](#): > > Did those also arise out of Deng’s policies, or were they the result of more recent changes? > > I found it really interesting that at some point in the past 10 or 20 years, they started buying up a ton of US companies in film, video games, and agriculture. In a sense, the CCP now directly or indirectly owns some of US capitalist outputs and redirects profits to their own needs, some of which presumably flow back to the citizens… “[socialism with Chinese characteristics](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socialism_with_Chinese_characteristics)” seems like a hybrid economic model that’s both experimental and so far pretty successful, all things considered? Deng Xiaoping’s “socialism with Chinese characteristics” (circa 1980) was the critical building block that 45 years later resulted in the billionaire class. The companies you cited are either manufacturing or chinese market specific (Alibaba) that has a lot of barriers to entry. The Chinese communist party may _indirectly_ “own” a lot of US agriculture and other companies. However, it’s not an micro managed orchestrated plan. The old Deng Xiaoping compact was “you are allowed to get rich, but never ever question the right of the party to rule.” As someone else pointed out, Jack Ma is a very good example of accruing too much power outside the party, and paid the price. [Not trying to derail or bring politics into this thread. But there are an awful lot of parallels between Trump 2.0 and “you can get rich, but you have to publicly toe my line.” IMHO, one of the silicon valley oligarchs is going to be made an example of. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2025, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reemergence-of-chinese-business-class-after-mao/1023725/24 "2025-10-08T22:57:24Z")
I think a business class is something that naturally emerges whenever circumstances allow it. It doesn’t need to be built or trained; it just happens. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2025, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reemergence-of-chinese-business-class-after-mao/1023725/25 "2025-10-08T23:03:15Z")
Once authoritarians get into power they tend to shift more and more to maintaining and extending that power. Which IMHO is a major reason why far-right and far-left regimes tend to look more and more similar over time; the right and left aspects fade away in favor of purified authoritarianism. > [@Lumpy](#): > > It’s saying something that the Chinese Communist Party managed to make Ayn Rand look right. It’s something that Communism and Capitalism have in common; when in power they make the other extreme look more attractive. I hear lots of people speaking fondly of Communism and bashing “late stage capitalism” these days. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2025, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reemergence-of-chinese-business-class-after-mao/1023725/26 "2025-10-09T00:07:20Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > Which IMHO is a major reason why far-right and far-left regimes tend to look more and more similar over time; the right and left aspects fade away in favor of purified authoritarianism Very well said. The dudes in charge converge on centralized power for centralized power’s sake. Call it the “Iron law of political oligarchy.” All that differs is the flavor of propaganda intended to placate and enlist the rubes. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reemergence-of-chinese-business-class-after-mao/1023725.md?page=1)