After more than a decade in which private companies have been the prime engine of China's economic miracle, the Chinese government is eager to control more of that wealth - even if that means running roughshod over private companies.
Chen Zhiwu, a professor of finance at Yale University and a harsh critic of the state's dominant role in the economy, says the Chinese government is smothering the private sector. "When the government is involved in business, it's hard for private companies to compete," Professor Chen said.
The usurping of private enterprise has become so evident that the Chinese have given it a nickname: guojin mintui. That roughly translates as "while the state advances, the privates retreat."
