this post was submitted on 04 Mar 2026
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China has a pretty abismal social safety net. They economy has a lot more central organization than most countries (whose economies are more free market). The social safety net systems in Europe are much stronger than in China, even though they have less centrally planned economies overall.
As with everything, it's hard to fit things into neat groups and the more you analyze something the more nuance there is.
Why exactly? What reasons?
I can only speculate, but I assume it has to do with the government structure. China's leadership is much more insulated (electorally) from the population than the European leadership. Said another way, European leadership is more accountable to their constituents and social safety nets are popular.
Chinese leadership are more accountable to the party which is just a subset of the population, not the population at large. I assume those in the party are on average better off and have less need for a social safety net, so they are less likely to demand that from the leadership. This is pure speculation though.
Appreciate the perspective
Like I said, I'm only guessing. I've never taken a political science class or studied this kind of stuff. It's the best reasoning I can come up with, bust just because it seems reasonable doesn't make it true.