China is one of five remaining communist countries in the world today but China has incorporated some of the principles of free market capitalism into the structure so can they still be classified as communist?

Quikc answer – No.

I read an article in the Economist – not more than a month or two ago, which posed the same question. The article’s author came to the conclusion that China couldn’t be called Communist any more despite the presence of the Communist party.

I don’t remember what he called it – something like state-controlled market-based management (that’s not it, but it’s something close to that).

Bottomline, China isn’t acting as a communist country any more, at least with regard to the economy. In other areas, yes,

@elbanditoroso State Capitalism?

As with any successful government, they are splicing elements of many different types of governing.

Interesting article comparing Russian and Chinese capitalism. It is old (2012) I would like to see an updated version.

They’re more like an Oligarchy.

@rojo – could be – I recycled my issue when I was finished with it, so I can’t be sure.

There are/have been at least 20 different types of Communism (stay tuned for more!) so it is what is wanted/needed by whoever is setting up their Communist government. If the Red Chinese Communists want a little Capitalism in their shindig, then what the hell…

Of course China is no longer a Communist country, though it is happy to pretend that it adheres to the dictates of Marx. The only reason that the word Communist is slapped in front of China by those outside the country is because the word “communist” is conveniently synonymous with “evil”. The Chinese have outplayed us at capitalism, principally by encouraging greed but unlike us, guaranteeing the results must be harnessed in large part toward the public good. The Chinese have utilized one particular Marxist paradigm to great effect in dealing with the United States, which is why our grandchildren may well be destined to apply for jobs in Bejing. As Marx realized, the problem with greed as a nation’s first priority is that “a capitalist can be defined as a man who will sell you the rope with which to hang him”. And sure enough, in the face of what was universally predicted as the certain result, the stampede was thunderous to sell them the rope.