China Signals Regulatory Crackdown Will Deepen in Long Push

China signaled its push to regulate sweeping parts of the economy, which has jolted markets, will be deep and sustained over the next five years. From a report: In a statement late Wednesday published by the State Council, China said it will "actively" work on legislation in areas including national security, technological innovation as well as anti-monopoly, in order to improve the legal framework "much-needed for governing the country." Law enforcement will be strengthened in sectors ranging from food and drugs to education tutoring where people's immediate interests are at stake, the council said.

The idea economy.

[Ostracus]

Hopefully stronger protections for intellectual property. ;-)

Re:The idea economy.

[Freischutz]

Hopefully stronger protections for intellectual property. ;-)

They already have strong protections for intellectual property. If you are a Chinese company your patents are approved near instantly and fiercely protected, if you are a foreign company patent approval takes years thus benefitting Chinese copy-cat companies. If Chinese companies then apply for patents anywhere else in the world they are treated like locals. It's all very good for the Chinese economy ... (and just for you American right wingers out there: that was sarcasm).

Looks like something is getting popular

[slack_justyb]

Now I'm sure everyone has their favorite version of "why" and anyone wanting to share, by all means feel free. But I'm starting to note that all around the world, it's getting mighty popular to crackdown on tech industries. So I'm starting to question if the running theory of "Well if (insert tech billionaire name here) is getting too much pressure from (insert current nation's name here) they'll just go to (insert some other nation's name here)" is one that will hold water. It seems the number of places some of these people can flee to and still enjoy the level of comfort they have is running low. Maybe this is why they're getting so itchy to head to space (I kid, sort of).

But in seriousness, it is interesting to see this level of unification against the tech industry. Is very clear that there's not a lot of love between the tech giants and governments. I'll say at least this, I'm not cheering on the government, but I'm not with people like Facebook, Alibaba, or whoever. I've got my popcorn to see how all this plays out.

apple needs to pull out!

[Joe_Dragon]

apple needs to pull out!

China is A**hole

[Virtucon]

If people still think China is a good place to do business, they should be very wary of this. The CCP wants to control everything that is made or sold in their nation complete with the requisite backdoors in high tech and IP sharing that further advances their economic growth at the expense of others; all under the guises of protecting their citizens.

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[Impy the Impiuos Imp]

The purpose of dictatorship is kleptocracy.

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[inode_buddha]

Yeah but you could reverse that and arrive at the same result.

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[ghoul]

As opposed to the US who does the same under the guise of "protecting Democracy"

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[Ol Olsoc]

As opposed to the US who does the same under the guise of "protecting Democracy"

You're slipping - you posted your offtopic anti USA , so good work China Screed a little late in the cue.

Report for your kidney extractions by 5:00 this evening. Your family will receive the standard 3 yuan payment for your accidental demise.

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[ghoul]

Sorry no kidneys to extract. I already had to sell them on the black market to pay for my insurance copay in a US hospital for a common cold.
On the plus side Dialysis is fully covered with no copays so who needs kidneys.

China learned this from the USA

[rapjr]

The USA uses banking power to exert control over the world. It places sanctions and, since it controls much of banking with the dollar being the worlds reserve currency, it can enforce them world wide. China has realized (maybe planned it that way) that a lot of the world has become dependent on China: stock markets, raw materials, labor, imports, and more. The Yuan is not the worlds reserve currency, but they do control a lot of other things. So they are finally using that as power and doing it in a fa

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[ghoul]

China was fine with increasing trade and taking over the world by working hard but no Trump had to play dirty on Huawei. Now China is showing USA it can play dirty too.

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[sabbede]

Are you suggesting that at some point China wasn't playing dirty? Maybe before Mao, but since? No.

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[sabbede]

Isn't that a bit like saying that police and warlords are basically the same thing because they use power to enforce order, but warlords are faster? In a way that's true, but only if you ignore why they each have power, where it comes from, and how it is used.

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[rapjr]

Huh? I don't see how your comment is relevant. Who did you think is the police and who the warlord here and why does who is faster make any difference? Faster at what?

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[sabbede]

Fine, if that wasn't clear enough then: Isn't that a bit like saying Democracy and Fascism are basically the same since they're both forms of government - even though one bases its authority on the consent of the governed and the other uses force to compel obedience?

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[rapjr]

I am not saying Democracy and Fascism are the same thing (even though all governmental power is ultimately derived from their military and police in both Democratic and Fascist states.) What I'm saying is that China is emulating the USA and in particular have realized they have a new way to hurt Wall Street, by messing with things like IPO's after the offering. It used to be that the USA could just unilaterally impose its financial will on the world (i.e., financial sanctions) but here is a new method whe

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[sabbede]

No, governmental power is not ultimately derived from the use of force in both systems. In a Democratic state (a modern Constitutional Republic), government's power is granted to it by the governed. Force is only used internally when necessary to enforce laws deemed necessary by the People. Tyranny derives it's power through the use of force against the governed, be it Fascist, Socialist, Feudal, or a military junta.

A vital distinction.

Now, while you're right that the ripples from this move will be

No monopolies?

[cygnusvis]

Only one monopoly allowed in China

Calling it “law enforcement”

[hdyoung]

Fools absolutely nobody except half the chinese population. “Law” is whatever the ccp decides it wants in order to stay in control. And its obvious that they are VERY threatened by their tech sector.

For all their talk of NOT going down the path soviet union took, thats exactly where theyre going. Its difficult to build a thriving economy and VERY easy to tear one down. 5 years of heavy handed control could easily undo a decade ( or two) of economic development in China. This is EXACTLY what did the ussr in. The USA never “beat” the soviets. We simply existed while they curb-stomped their own economy into the mud and the resulting collapse did them in.

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[AmiMoJo]

China is actually quite big in consumer law. This isn't unexpected at all, they have quite good systems in place. For example, have a read of this account of using the legal system to resolve a dispute with a company:

https://twitter.com/thinking_p... [twitter.com]

Just because the CCP is evil doesn't mean it can't do some good things, just like our own governments.

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[gtall]

"they have quite good systems in place." As long as you are one of the chosen. If you happen to disapprove of the CCP, those laws are worthless.

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[AmiMoJo]

Indeed, they will crush any decent without hesitation.

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[hdyoung]

I hear you, but need to use the word “law” in quotes. What theyve set up is a system of consumer RULES, which are consistently applied as long as the results please the ruling party. “Rules” are highly mutable, and can be ignored by the people in power. “Laws” apply no matter who. Witness: Trumps shitshow was getting continually blocked by the courts. Can you imagine Xi getting one of his pet projects declared illegal by the chinese court system? No? Sorry, not a “s

Sure they will...

[suss]

They're going to crackdown on all the "wrongthinkers", and nothing much else will happen.

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[mcswell]

And the rest of the people will love Big Brother.

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[Camel Pilot]

err... you mean the interest of the ruling elite above that of large multi-national corporations.

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[gtall]

You mean a government for the CCP. Please learn to distinguish the difference between the CCP and the people.

China's advantage over the West

[GameboyRMH]

One advantage China has over the West is that they're not willing to let private (or private-ish) companies run roughshod over their society and/or economy for the sake of TEH FREE MARKETS!!1. It would be so much better for a well-regulated capitalist democracy to win over China's strictly regulated capitalist authoritarian dictatorship.

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[LostMyAccount]

Yeah, but the question is what exceptions that will they be making, and you know there will be some.

China's version of too big to fail, state-sensitive enterprises like Huawei, semi-private enterprises tied to aerospace and the defense sector, and probably a few companies with ties to insiders in Xi's orbit.

This can easily go south and result in outcomes like Iran's, where anything lucrative is either controlled by the Revolutionary Guard or basically paying them skim. Or like any number of authoritarian g

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[ghoul]

China does not subscribe to the concept of too big to fail. If they want to try something and think its a good idea they will do it irrespective of the risks. Mao thought it wasa good idea for city dwellers to develop empathy for the farmers by having to go live in the villages for a while. he did it, damn the costs. If 50 million deaths is not going to stop them from trying something; destruction of a few billion dollar tech companies isnt. They just have to be convinced what they are doing is a good idea.

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[LostMyAccount]

I seriously doubt China would do any kind of crackdown on a company like Huwei or internal companies involved in aerospace or any other critical technology, especially those with military applications.

China is rapidly catching up (if not there already in many cases) with the West and they would not allow simple-minded Maoist logic to cripple this progress.

Now, I'm more inclined to agree -- if the company involved is just simply large and not critical to state security or prestige, than it's just a good exam

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[ghoul]

Frankly I think what is happening is the CIA has convinced the Chinese leadership to crackdown on their own tech companies. The CIA is good at convincing competitors to self destruct. Witness how they convinced Gorbachov to self destruct the Soviet Union.

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[LostMyAccount]

I think the Chinese got over-confident that the Great Firewall and keeping western tech companies in a short leash would keep them from having technology company management problems.

But I think recently the tech situation in the West has caused them to re-think whether their own tech sector, which they thought was under control, is actually out of control, or at least not controlled they way they thought the risk(s) were being managed.

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[gtall]

Yep, those state supported companies in China really do care about the citizens. What are you smoking?

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[GameboyRMH]

The companies may not care but the government does care about making their society and economy unsustainable, as evidenced in TFA.

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[mcswell]

Well of course they want to make their society sustainable. Otherwise, how could they realize their picture of the future as a boot stamping on a human face—for ever?

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[Tokolosh]

In 30 years we will all be pondering what went wrong with China? It all seemed so promising for them!

Disagree? Meet you here in 30 years.

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[mcswell]

I hope I can meet you in 30 years--I'll be 101 then. And I'll also bet that /. will still be restricting us to ASCII in 30 years.

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[tlhIngan]

One advantage China has over the West is that they're not willing to let private (or private-ish) companies run roughshod over their society and/or economy for the sake of TEH FREE MARKETS!!1. It would be so much better for a well-regulated capitalist democracy to win over China's strictly regulated capitalist authoritarian dictatorship.

Oh? Gutter oil is still a thing in China, despite crackdowns. People still buy it and cook with it (eww) and get sick all the time with it. It happens fairly openly as well.

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[sabbede]

China is not capitalist. You cannot have a "capitalist authoritarian dictatorship", those words contradict each other. The term for China's system is "State capitalism", but that itself is a misnomer. Nor is this being done to prevent companies from running roughshod over anything, it's to strip them of any power independent of the CCP's control.

Democratic-Capitalist systems (a stable combination, unlike the impossible/contradictory Democratic-Socialist or Authoritarian-Capitalist), do act to prevent p

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[GameboyRMH]

Democratic socialism is impossible? Nobody told Scandinavia etc. Somebody should tell Hungary and Russia that their authoritarian capitalism is an impossible contradiction too.

Hmmm...

[johnnys]

"education tutoring where people's immediate interests are at stake"

Sounds like indoctrination camps to me. "Hey miscreant! Learn this lesson or your immediate interest in being allowed to continue breathing will be at stake!"

Re: Hmmm...

[VeryFluffyBunny]

They're referring to the proposed crackdown on extra-curricular tutoring services. At least in the west, they've been shown to be low on academic benefit (doesn't increase grades much) & to reduce kids' quality of life, i.e. too much time studying & not enough time spent with family & friends. And yet parents & kids believe it's necessary. I think interventions on this issue are long overdue, especially in south-east Asia.

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[ghoul]

China has 2 parent , 4 Grandparent and 1 child families. These families are hypercompetitive over the success of their one child. Private education companies are tyng into this vulnerability and selling expensive tutoring with limited benefit. Even families who cant afford it are going into debt to pay for these courses. Govt had to do something as there arnt many other civic society organizations to combat this. The problem with being an all powerful govt is you have to deal with every issue. The chaos of

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[sabbede]

If the benefit doesn't justify the cost, how long will people continue to pay it if left to their own devices?

Granted, what you describe applies to the higher education system in the US just as well, but how long will that last?

What could possibly go wrong?

[thrasher thetic]

I mean, its just a five-year-plan. Those always work out.

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[ghoul]

A 5 year plan put a man into space so theres that.

In other words

[inode_buddha]

In other words, doing everything that the US *should* be doing. Ostensible for the good of their people.

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[Tokolosh]

You hit the nail on the head. All the /. hordes clamoring for government intervention, anti-capitalism, socialism must be applauding China. Big Daddy always knows best, right?

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[whodunit]

Including murdering Muslims, eh?

And now dear audience...

[locater16]

All we need is a run on credit and we've got a full blown panic. C'mon China, "regulate" all those bad debts your state owned corporations and your government provinces have racked up, and do it all at once. Discipline is the only order, after all if everyone tries to panic and sell those bonds internally you can just threaten people!

Transformational Change

[biggaijin]

This sounds just like what the Democrats are planning for America.