THE emergence of “red capitalists” in China is a perfect metaphor for the entire reform era. Red capitalists symbolize the competing and seemingly contradictory nature of contemporary China: the existence of a free-wheeling economy alongside Leninist political institutions. China's leaders have wrestled with how to allow the free flow of information, labor, capital, and goods and services necessary for economic development without losing their hold on political power. Red capitalists therefore represent the merger of economic and political power in China.

Red capitalists also represent the hopes and fears of those who expect economic reform to lead to political change in China. Some hope that red capitalists represent the cutting edge of an emerging civil society in China and will push the CCP to allow even greater political liberalization, which would bring the economic and political systems into greater harmony. Others fear that the admission of capitalists into the CCP blurs the class nature of the party and introduces interests that are inimical to party traditions. Where some see development, others see disintegration. Either way, there is widespread agreement that economic growth and privatization are undermining the communist institutions in China, which in turn will lead to political change and perhaps democratization.