China has succeeded so much by moving away from a planned economy when they were fully planned they were one of the poorest nations in the world. Most successful nations are mixed economies and yes, this is a settled question.

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Past performance is no indication of future success. It doesn't matter what's been successful in the past, these things can change. Communism was considered more successful than capitalism for a large chunk of the 20th century (because it was), then that changed and so did the narrative.

None of this is settled, because it's a living system that changes over time. What may have been perfectly true in 1850 might not be remotely accurate in 2050.

> Communism was considered more successful than capitalism for a large chunk of the 20th century (because it was), then that changed

The word you're looking for is "collapse". It's when something is stable at one point in time, but then later breaks down. That's what "changed". It wasn't random like weather or something. The economic systems collapsed.

> None of this is settled

The fact that it has happened numerous times in different parts of the world makes it pretty settled in my mind.

> Communism was considered more successful than capitalism for a large chunk of the 20th century (because it was) According to whom?

They were very poor before central planning, and the central planning is what got them from being very poor to relatively poor and economically powerful.

This is objectively not the case, selling goods to America and Europe is what made China rich and that is due to a free market system they implemented

Only very partially free, though. The govt still has massive control over the markets, and especially the banks. They still plan a lot of their economy.