@prometheanbound The Chinese party-state is interested in economic development because they want to be good nationalists and imperialists. As a good nationalist and imperialist, you want the country you rule to be wealthy and strong to compete with foregin imperialists. The rulers of Russia, alas, seem to be bad imperialist. They have not paying attention to economic and technological development, and it seems to me they're paying their price for their laziness in the Ukraine war. The whole world now sees clearly how weak Russia has become.