China does not have a free market. They have limits and barriers against foreign products. Only a handful of US films are allowed to be shown there annually. Their economy is really export based with the Chinese army and government owning 49% of a lot of their corporations.
I (and many here) wish only a handful of US films were allowed to be shown here annually.
In China, you can get a pair of scissors, a chair, and a piece of plywood painted with the characters for “haircuts, $5” and put it on the sidewalk and people will line up to have their hair cut. And it’s legal. In America, you need a cosmetology license and a business license and sales tax license and who knows what else, or you will be shut down. (Ask kids selling lemonade about this.)
Furthermore, in China, in a tent where many vendors assemble to form a sort of flea-market type atmosphere, the tax collector might come through demanding The State’s share of the proceeds. The vendors can assemble together, lift the man up by his elbows, and eject him from the tent, without getting shot or charged with felony attack on a government agent. I dare anyone to try something like that here without either or both of the aforementioned things happening.
A friend of mine traveled to China to see how things were first hand, these were from his report.