When it comes to the Chinese economy, I have been a congenital optimist for more than 25 years. But now I have serious doubts. The Chinese government has taken dead aim at its dynamic technology sector, the engine of China’s new economy.

Its recent actions are symptomatic of a deeper problem: the state’s efforts to control the energy of animal spirits. The China Dream, President Xi Jinping’s aspirational vision of a “great modern socialist country” by 2049, could now be at risk.

Project Syndicate