I find V's comments interesting. China is very different today from what it was 40 years ago. From the Cultural Revolution to capitalist superpower. China might be ruled by the Communist Party, but China is one of the most "free enterprise" countries in the world. Compared to most western nations, China has very lax laws for opening and operating a business. For this reason China seems to have a more liberal policy towards business than many western nations and in China you can literally buy and sell anything.

In comparison, many western nations have complex laws, and opening and operating businesses is relatively complicated and expensive. We have a lot more laws for protecting workers, the environment, etc. In that sense most western industrialized countries (including the US) are a lot more "socialist" than China is. We also have much more powerful centralized banking systems and economic controls in place.

China's change was the product of Deng Xiaoping's policies when he became head of the Communist party after Mao's death. Deng Xiaoping was educated in France. It was in France that he was exposed to Marxism, but I imagine that his stay there also gave him a sense of the potential in industrialized capitalism. He brought western ideology, both Marxist and capitalist, to China.

Of course, the lack of regulations has caused a lot of problems with the environment and public health. Quality control is good in China, but there are also big lapses and dishonesty. In fairness, I don't think China is worse than any other country. I have seen some really poor quality products made in North America and Europe. We pollute a lot more than China does, and we have had serious issues of public health and quality control.