While Piyush Goyal intended to play smart by bad-mouthing China’s business environment, he inadvertently exposed a deeply uncomfortable reality: in India, the ultra-rich are indeed very secure, precisely because they routinely stand above both the law and the people. What many in India may not realize is that industries monopolized by large conglomerates in India—such as power generation, ports, and telecommunications—are state-managed in China. The reason is straightforward: these sectors are closely tied to people’s livelihoods and have natural monopoly characteristics, so they are judged by their capacity to serve society rather than by their profit-making ability. This is why China has long been able to keep electricity prices and freight rates low—they are backed by the power of the state. By contrast, for most consumer goods, competition among Chinese companies is brutally fierce. The US has only Apple, but China has more than a dozen globally recognized smartphone brands; the US has only Tesla, but China has more than two dozen of EV brands. Market champions are always the product of intense competition, because the government only sides with the final winners, and no Chinese company can sway government decisions the way Adani or Ambani do in India. Having said all the above, it is not hard to see that Piyush Goyal’s remarks have unintentionally highlighted a major Chinese advantage: no matter how powerful capital becomes, it cannot override political authority. It is precisely this degree of political autonomy that allows Chinese decision-makers to remain free from capture by either commercial interests or populist pressures, and to make strategic choices that prioritize long-term outcomes and the interests of the greatest number of people.