First let me state that I am not trying to make a political statement (but it probably will be !).

You can buy small items from China cheaper than the postage costs in UK !!

My observation is that Chinese economy and industry is controlled by the state and seems to be prospering compared with Western industry. There may be some deliberate attempt to undermine the economy of the west, but I think that part of the blame for the state of this country is the 'shareholder system' where money leaves the investment cycle to go into the coffers of the rich.

The joke used to be of Soviet Communism - if a farmer has a tractor, the state takes control of it, so nobody has a tractor. Chinese Communism however pushed money back into education and industrial development putting them where they are now in the world economy.

I don't think that people's levels of happiness and freedom in China is all that good. I wouldn't want to live there!