Before China joined the World Trade Organization in 2001, many people had high hopes for the country. The view among the smart set was that freer trade would build a rising middle class, thereby creating pressures for democratic reform. The elite consensus was also that foreign competition would nudge China away from so many state-owned firms and toward private enterprise. Corruption would decline as well, due to competitive pressures and the “sunlight” that trade with foreign nations would bring.
The joke is on us.
Nearly 25 years later, under the rule of Xi Jinping, China is more autocratic than ever before. Its state-owned enterprises continue, and corruption remains rampant.
