> And China's economic failure compared to liberal countries like India is a great illustration of that. Oh wait… China's success is actually a very powerful i

> And China's economic failure compared to liberal countries like India is a great illustration of that. Oh wait… China's success is actually a very powerful illustration of this, in fact. Through the 1980s-1990s, China went through dramatic economic reform, and the results largely speak for themselves[1]. Before the reforms, the Chinese economy was dominated by state ownership and central planning. From 1950 to 1973, Chinese real GDP per capita grew at a rate of 2.9% per year on average, albeit with major fluctuations stemming from the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution. This placed it near the middle of the Asian nations during the same period, with neighboring capitalist countries such as Japan, South Korea and rival Chiang Kai-shek's Republic of China outstripping the PRC's rate of growth. Starting in 1970, the economy entered into a period of stagnation, and after the death of Mao Zedong, the Communist Party leadership turned to market-oriented reforms to salvage the failing economy. The first stage, in the late 1970s and early 1980s, involved the de-collectivization of agriculture, the opening up of the country to foreign investment, and permission for entrepreneurs to start businesses. However, 87% industry remained state-owned. The second stage of reform, in the late 1980s and 1990s, involved the privatization and contracting out of much state-owned industry, followed by the 1985 lifting of price controls. The private sector grew to the extent that it accounted for as much as 70% of China's gross domestic product by 2005. From 1978 until 2013, unprecedented growth occurred, with the economy increasing by 9.5% a year. India actually experienced a similar trajectory — from 1947 until the late 80s/early 90s, India's economic system was described as "Nehruvian socialism". It was more derogatorily called a "License Raj"[2]. Under the License Raj, India's annual economic growth rate stagnated around 3.5% from the 1950s to 1980s, while per capita income averaged 1.3%. In the same period, Pakistan grew by 5%, Indonesia by 9%, Thailand by 9%, South Korea by 10% and Taiwan by 12%. Before 2015, India grew at a slower pace than China, which had been liberalizing its economy since 1978. In 2015, India's GDP growth outpaced that of China. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_economic_reform https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_economic_reform [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Licence_Raj https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Licence_Raj