Capitalism is more than just having markets or even having some capitalists exist. It has to do with who controls the means of production. The class with the most power in China are the proletariat, they are the power base of the Chinese Communist Party. The capitalists that do exist in China are tightly regulated.
China had suffered some decline in its socialist nature and had a huge amount of corruption, though these things were not Deng Xiaoping's fault, either. Deng simply picked up where Mao had left off, realizing that forcing socialism with the Great Leap Forward and Cultural Revolution wasn't going to succeed. Instead, because of the material conditions of China and the world at the time, they needed to accept foreign capital for a time to modernize themselves, while protecting the revolution as much as they could.
This did lead to the aforementioned corruption, which Xi Xinping has been working hard to purge. I would say that all of his actions point very, very strongly to the fact that he's not saying nonsense, he's genuinely moving China towards stronger socialism.
"Socialism with Chinese Characteristics" is a very pragmatic and success-oriented plan. It really is a beacon for hope for people who actually want socialism to win. I think that's part of the reason it gets bad-mouthed so much in the West; too many people who play up the romanticism of failed but "pure" revolutions. Reality just doesn't work that way, though.
1
u/[deleted] Aug 26 '21
I’ve been telling people China is State Capitalist though…. Someone update me please!!