Industrial policy is doomed to fail for the same reason as the planned economy. This is one of the theses explored in the book by esteemed Chinese economist Zhang Weiying, a professor at Peking University.

Zhang is widely recognized as China’s leading advocate of free-market principles and played a significant role in shaping Chinese ruler Deng Xiaoping’s economic policies in the late 1980s and 1990s. However, Zhang’s influence has waned in recent years as China has shifted toward a more state-driven industrial policy.