[cromwellian]

Either-or fallacy. The regulations before proscribed levels of ownership, joint venture requirements, and contraband goods but direct Chinese interference to limit outside interference and benefit local competition have grown a lot worse under Xi compared with Hu and Jiang. Prior to that, China had no choice but to accept FDI join ventures, so for example, that’s why you see lots of Chinese manufactured Fords, Buick’s, Audis, and Volvos driving around. Once they have mastered building quality cars, then they’ll impose quotas and other rules to try and encourage buying local companies over joint ventures.

There was a time when Western companies were flying under the radar during the first half of Hu’s term allowing JV market share to expand significantly.

China’s economy hasn’t been communist since Mao.