Most of China’s economic problems now are not due to US restrictions — they reflect domestic structural distortions: Meg Rithmire

"Ironically, they did this with advice from Hong Kong real estate tycoons and other overseas Chinese businesspeople. Initially, these markets were more decentralised — that was then reversed as authorities got nervous about the instability that comes with dispersed market activity. The CCP designated municipal governments as the owner of urban land. They also recentralised tax revenue, overturning perceived inequalities among local governments but leaving almost all expenditure burdens, from infrastructure to unemployment insurance, etc., on the latter," Rithmire said.