China isn't a "socialist market economy." It's a capitalist economy with authoritarian political control. The Chinese Communist Party figured out that socialism creates poverty, so they adopted capitalist mechanisms while maintaining political power. Their prosperity comes from the capitalist parts, not the socialist ones. This kind of rhetorical sleight-of-hand is common among socialists who want to claim credit for capitalism's successes while avoiding responsibility for socialism's failures.

Socialists say we shouldn’t judge them by “capitalist metrics.” Fine. By their own, socialism still fails: Cuba’s hospitals lack basics, Soviet schools taught propaganda, East Germans risked death to escape… If you’re tired of these myths on campus, grab the College Survival Kit and learn how to fight back with facts. Access: https://go.studentsforliberty.org/college-survival-kit-1/ | Students For Liberty