I don't think you can seriously maintain that it is in fact encouraging liberty, economic or otherwise. I am sorry to say, but it is just simply wishful-thinking when you learn how many of the "business people" who run the Chinese "companies" are just as we saw in this very thread about the Varyag scam. Thin pretexts for the PLA and the PLAN and the Chinese Communist Parties's Industry and Communications committees.
They are fronts. When not PLA officers, they are Party Princelings. The Chineses People still can't move of their own volition. And they can't simply quit their jobs. And they can't demand more money. And the "investment" of the foreign companies has to be "joint-ventured" with the Chinese companies and Chinese partners who (supplying only land, and labor)...with the Western companies forced into sacrificing their technology to these partners. Who are then in the ideal position to take over and expel the Westerners after the entire operation is set up and running. GM is currently finding out the hard way what the Chinese really insist on about technology sharing. Chery's R Us.
I also would recommend you take a good hard look at the current Chinese Constitution as well. This is their governing document. And they really follow their Constitution. Quite Unlike our own Supreme Court. Unless our Supreme Court is now following the Chinese Constitution. Which would actually then make a perverted kind of sense....
Re-read what I wrote. You'll notice that I wrote that the Chinese government is perfectlky willing to trade the appearance of economic freedom without the attendant political freedoms. The belief is that if people are chasing money they will not care all that much about political rights. Then again, we're not talking about a country that has a history of anything approaching political rights, are we?
However,this will soon change. How soon, is an open question. More and more Chinese are being exposed to the west and western concepts every day in their business dealings, schooling and in their spare time surfing the web and by watching American television.
The idea was never to "encourage liberty" it was to provide the illusion of liberty without having to conceed political power.