I do think China is slightly more free market than U.S but not by a big margin because it has much more lenient enforcement regarding laws for intellectual property and child labor, which is probably another big reason why Chinese products are so much cheaper than American ones. Do I think China has the freest economy in the world? No. But I can why these factors can be used for economies of scale.

It's also worth noting that the Chinese economy is not one big monolith. There are areas that more free market than others, such as the SEZs, as well as Hong Kong and Macau. I suppose this makes me want to know what specific type(s) of economics you've studied out of curiosity. Maybe we just got different perspectives.

Regardless, this was quite a fascinating read.