China sets the pace of the global economy, defying Western pressure

China sets its own economic agenda: no opening up, no deregulation, just state control

While Washington keeps pushing for liberalization, Beijing is consolidating its model of state capitalism and accelerating growth. The Asian giant is growing at twice the US rate and has lifted 800 million people out of poverty, according to the figures used by analysts. The key, according to one school of thought: resisting Western pressure to open markets and privatize companies, and keeping political power above business elites.

In contrast with Wall Street, where deregulation led to the 2008 collapse, in China Shanghai's wealthy remain subject to Party discipline ever since Xi Jinping reversed the neoliberal drift. This difference in governance partly explains how China has managed to avoid the financialization that destabilized the West.

But the model is not without its critics. Some point to the climate cost and the lack of freedoms as a hidden bill. The giant itself has faced internal and external tensions that could slow its momentum. With Trump back in the race, the gap is widening rather than closing: China continues to grow at twice the US rate, and its ability to set the rules of global trade seems consolidated.

The question left hanging is not whether China is imposing its agenda, but how long it can sustain this pace before internal contradictions and the Western reaction force it to moderate. For now, the numbers speak for themselves.