In today's international debate over China's development model, a commonly heard term is "state capitalism,' and one oft-cited example of this is the country's development of high-speed railways.

Yet, in this issue of Caixin we report on exorbitant prices paid for bathroom fixtures on new bullet trains, further evidence if any were needed of the ills of state-led market development. In light of such abuses, a closer look at state capitalism is timely.