I have not kept up with all the changes and free market reforms in China in recent years.
I didn’t realize there was so much private ownership of housing allowed in China. Under communism theoretically there is no private ownership
They don’t really own it. They have a long term lease (typically 70 years)
The CCP started to put in more Free Market reforms in the late 70s, these reforms are what has pushed the country’s economic surge over the last 4 decades.
Problem is the current leader Xi had his formative years during Mao’s cultural revolution and seems hell bent on returning China to those days, his policies has caused China’s economy to be on the verge of imploding.
Does seem China has, like Russian Mensheviks, discovered that capitalism is required to generate enough surplus for communism to have something to redistribute.
Bad merging of the two results in China’s infamous “ghost cities”, entire urban areas built for reasons, which remain unoccupied. Sounds like they’re suffering the next stage of this, where builders get paid early for units - and having been paid, have little incentive to continue while someone else (mortgage lender) gets stuck with a loan for something which doesn’t exist and the borrower doesn’t want to pay for.
“Under communism theoretically there is no private ownership”
Well, the difference is, under Sino-Communism there is theoretical private ownership! (being that the state still controls everything in every sector of the economy, no matter whose name is on the title)
China is technically a fascist nation. Allowing private enterprise to generate wealth that is then taken by the government to redistribute.