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Comment by globalnode

4 months ago

free for me but not for thee

> free for me but not for thee

That's rich, coming from a country which outright bands foreign corporations from even operating within their borders, and those who they allow have to operate through a state-controlled corporate minder.

  • And then you actually go to China and are shocked to realize that Western companies and brands are everywhere. Starbucks and KFC on every other corner. Tesla, Volkswagen and BMW cars clogging the roads. Rich people wearing Italian luxury brands, middle-class people wearing Nike and Adidas athleisure wear.

    China is nothing like your paranoid fantasy.

    • China’s foreign investment framework is formally open (especially after WTO accession), but:

      - Certain industries are restricted or prohibited for foreign investors.

      - The “Negative List for Foreign Investment” explicitly bans or limits foreign participation in many areas (e.g., media, education, data services, telecoms, mining). - Some sectors require a Chinese joint venture (you can’t have 100% ownership).

      So even though the law allows foreign entry, policy barriers and regulatory discretion make it hard in practice.

      To use your example of Volkswagen, their ownership in China is structured around several joint ventures, where it shares ownership with Chinese companies like SAIC Motor, FAW Group, and JAC Group. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SAIC_Volkswagen

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